3:10 to Yuma: After the Train
by cpd3
Summary: Dan is taken to town for treatment after the 3:10 leaves. Ben Wade escapes from Yuma days before Dan is to return home. Both return to the ranch, but all isn't as they had thought. Dan and Will find themselves pulled into the outlaw's world. BenxDan slash
1. Chapter 1

"You did it, Pa. You did it."

William's reverent words echoed in Dan's flickering mind. His vision darkened, lightened, then darkened again. In one of the lighter moments, Dan could sense Ben Wade's presence lurking above him, looking down from the train just before the wheels began to squeal and lurch forward. Then his vision faded out again.

* * *

"Pa?" William's worried words pulled him from the gathering clouds about his mind. He opened his lips to speak, or at least he thought he opened them. All he heard was a clattering of horse hooves going in the direction the train had taken. His head pounded in time with the sounds, sending sharp pains throughout his entire body. He passed out again.

* * *

"Evans?" Dan's mind returned from darkness, exhaustion keeping his eyes shut as he listened to the conversation taking place above his somewhere.

"Yes, he's my pa."

"The one who took Ben Wade to the train?"

"Yes," William replied, his voice full of pride. "Yes, that's my pa."

"Will," Dan croaked, his voice harsh and raspy. Blood curled up his throat as he said the word.

"Pa!" Dan felt the shift of air as William moved to stand over him, quickly taking his hand as if to pull him back to reality. "Pa!" The boy's voice was strained, concerned. Dan smiled.

"Will."

* * *

"Mr. Evans?" The same man's voice pulled Dan from his dream-state. The one who had been talking to William earlier. Dan groaned in response. "Mr. Evans?" A hand gently touched his shoulder. "We're going to try to remove one of the bullets we couldn't get out earlier. We're going to knock you out for this. Alright?" Dan grunted. The doctor must have taken that for a yes, because this time the dark rushed to meet him, not the other way around.

* * *

Dan opened his eyes. Light flooded the room, causing him to momentarily squint in surprise after so much darkness. Slowly, Dan turned his head to take in his surroundings. He hadn't been in this room, though he guessed it was one of the doctor's rooms in Contention. William was sound asleep on a chair directly across from where he lay now, the boy's face turned toward the window. As if sensing his father's eyes, William woke up, quickly popping up from the chair and to Dan's side.

"Pa!" he cried in relief, his eyes blurry. He grabbed onto his father's hand, holding tightly. "Pa, you're alright."

"I guess I am," Dan rasped, surprised at the hoarseness of his own voice. Will looked up at him, trying to read his face.

"The doc said that one of the bullets passed pretty close to your organs." The boy paused, looking down to study both of their hands. "They couldn't take it out after all. Not without risking your life. It's somewhere between your heart and lungs."

"But I'm alive," Dan rasped again, amazement clear in his voice.

"Yeah, Pa," Will said quietly, resting his head on his father's hand. "You're alive." Dan felt a drop of warm liquid splash onto his hand. He reached down and rested his other hand on William's head, ignoring the pulls in his chest at the movement. Dan closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the comfort of holding another human being after so long in the darkness alone.

The pair simply sat there for a while, silently enjoying the company of the other. After a few moments of solitude, the door quietly squeaked open. William raised his head and Dan looked toward the door. Neither released the other's hand as the doctor came into the room, followed quickly by a nurse in an outfit of light pink and white. Dan watched William's eyes follow the woman around the room, a small smile lighting upon his lips.

"Mr. Evans?"

"Yes, Doctor-?" Dan paused, leaving the ending open for a name.

"Ah, yes. Excuse me for not introducing myself now that you are awake." The slight man stepped into the room, pushing the door shut behind himself and running his fingers through his thinning gray hair. "My name is Conroy Smith. I've been looking after you since, since, well, the incident at the train." The Doc looked awkwardly at the ceiling. Dan wondered absently if this man had been in the crowd of shooters below the hotel window competing for some quick cash. Clearing the thought from his head, Dan smiled at the man.

"How do you do, Doc?"

A smile of relief crossed the old man's face. He definatley had been. "Ah, quite well, thank you Mr. Evans."

"Dan."

"Dan," the doctor corrected with a smile. "But I do believe the question is how are you doing?" The man stepped forward and stood next to the bed, carefully observing Dan's face before waving the nurse forward. William gave his father's hand a final squeeze and retreated to the chair by the window, alternating his gaze between the outside and his father.

"We're going to sit you up now and change the bandages on your chest. This is probably going to hurt a lot," the nurse said meekly, not meeting Dan's eyes as she put a hand behind his back to aide in pulling him into a seated position.

"Like hell," the doctor quipped before adding his hand. Dan nodded and the pair slowly pulled him upright while Dan swung his legs over the side of the bed. "This is a lot easier to do while you're conscious," the doctor muttered under his breath. Dan grimaced as the movement and position changed the way his skin pulled on his injuries. A small spot of warm liquid flowered around the bullet wound near his heart. The nurse quickly set to work removing the bandages, somehow pulling them away from his skin, where some had actually begun to attach to, without further injuring him. Aside from the occasional hiss or wince of pain, Dan felt better than he had expected after being shot four-was it four?- times in the chest. Some of his wounds had grown patches of scarred skin over them.

"How long was I out for?" Dan asked quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer. If his wounds were this much better, it couldn't have been only a day, even two.

"Mr. Evans-"

"Dan."

"Dan, you were out for a good week."

"A week?" Dan exploded, moving to stand only to recoil from the hammer-like pain sprouting from various places on his chest with the movement. "That means the ranch-"

"Don't worry about it now, Pa," Will said quietly. "The house will still be there when we get back."

"Thank you, William," the doctor said before turning to again face his un-bandaged patient. "Now look," he chided. "You have managed to open some of the wounds again." The nurse left the room with the dirty bandages, returning with a pile of new linen strips with which to bind Dan's shot up chest. The pair slowly began wrapping his torso, every now and then asking him to lift and arm. Dan felt his eyelids beginning to flutter as they neared the end of their ritual. His mind was sluggish with exhaustion from so little an effort; part of his mind despaired as to what he would do when he got back to the ranch, for there was no way he would be able to do all he needed to like this. Another part of his brain had a different question.

"Hey, doc," he asked quietly once they had finished wrapping the last of his bandages. "Why aren't I in pain? Serious pain? Shouldn't I be feeling more than, well, this?"

The doctor took a moment to reply, opting to aide the nurse in shifting Dan onto the bed again before answering. "My nurse and I have been giving you some drugs, Dan. To help with the pain and your recovery."

"Ah," he said quietly. Then his eyes closed and he was back in dreamland.

* * *

The next two weeks passed much like the first, though each day Dan slept a little less than the one before. By the end of his second week in the doctor's room, Dan was able to actually walk out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom without managing to reopen his wounds. The doctor had been angry to find him in the bathroom the first time, though when Dan said he felt fine, and after his bandages had been examined for bleeding, the doctor had beamed and allowed him unrestricted bathroom privileges. Dan still remembered the look of relief on William's face when Dan returned to the room, accidentally waking his son from his nap in the chair, and told him that he no longer needed help managing his personal business. That had been Dan's opportunity to beam.

* * *

By the end of the third week, the doctor was ready to let Dan try the trip home, as long as he promised to stay in a hotel each night they were on the road. When Dan had inquired about the expense of his stay, the doctor had waved his hand and told him that the railroad people had taken care of it. Dan made a mental note to thank Grayson when he got home.

The day Dan and Will were to leave Contention, Will brought the newspaper to his father as he pulled on his boots. The front headline was expected and probably long overdue: "Outlaw Ben Wade Escapes Yuma Prison after Trial Finds Him Guilty." Dan grinned and laughed, though it became more of a wheeze, much to William's concern. Waving off his son's concern, Dan caught his breath and stood, tucking the newspaper into his saddlebag and slinging it over his shoulder as the pair left his room for good.

"Aren't you mad, Pa?" Will asked his question quietly as they descended the stairs, nodding a final farewell to the doctor and his quiet nurse.

"Mad?" Dan replied quietly, "how can I be mad? The bastard saved my life. He also told me straight out that he had gotten out of Yuma twice before. Frankly I'm surprised it took him this long."

"Maybe he wanted to be dramatic," Will suggested as the exited the building and approached their horses. Both animals looked eager for the exercise of the road again.

"Maybe," Dan said quietly, almost to himself, as they mounted up.

* * *

The ride home took far longer then Dan would have liked. They spent three days traveling, their pace a frustratingly slow walk for riders and horses alike. Anything faster, however, and Dan was panting in pain from the jarring effect the motion took on his still healing wounds. They spent two nights in hotels, an expense which, quite frankly, Dan would have eliminated completely had not William miraculously produced the hotel fee from money given to him by Grayson. Dan swallowed his pride and ignored the tightening of his gut at the charity. The man owed him. Big time.

The sight of Bisbee, even from so far away as they were now, had never been such a relief as it was after nearly a full month away. The thought of seeing Alice again, however, filled him with an almost bittersweet longing for something else. What, he couldn't determine.

"Pa," Will said quietly, pulling on Dan's sleeve and waking him from his thinking. "I think we should just go to the ranch." Dan nodded. The pair slowly worked their way down the hill and by passed the busy town. They were going home.


	2. Chapter 2

"What happened?" Will asked faintly, taking in the view from the ridge with a mix of shock and horror. "Where's the house?" Dan simply stared, his eyes not really taking in what he saw.

They had just come over the ridge, taking a shortcut from the road to Bisbee and cutting directly across the land to the hill overlooking the ranch. It was the same place Charlie had stood while Ben was switched out of the carriage. It was the same place the ranch used to be. All that remained were two large piles of charred wood: one where the barn had been, and one where the house had been.

"No," Dan gasped eventually, finally absorbing what he saw before him. "No!" Giving his horse a kick, Dan charged down the hill at a near gallop, ignoring the pains it awoke in his still-healing wounds. Will followed after a few seconds lapse, his shock holding him in place rather than spurring him forward. Dan rode to the edge of the house's ruins and dismounted, stumbling as he switched his weight onto his gimp leg to quickly. He quickly limped to the first board, holding his hand over it to feel for heat. There was none. A cursory gaze at the house revealed no lingering flames. Only cold, burned wood remained. This had been done long ago. "No," he whispered. He barely heard William come up next to him. The boy stood looking at his former home for only a second before starting forward and tossing boards the about.

"William," Dan said quietly. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for Ma," Will replied frantically as his hands moved over the boards, "and Mark!" Dan stood and stepped forward to help, barely touching one of the burned boards before loosing his balance and stumbling back.

"Will," Dan called softly. "Will."

"No!" Will replied stubbornly. "I'm going to look for them!"

"Will!" Dan's voice was harsher this time. "Stop. We'll ride back to town. Maybe your Ma and Mark are there."

"Maybe they aren't," Will replied with a sob. "Maybe they're here."

"Will. Come here." Dan waited until his son paused to glance back at him. "If we go to Bisbee and find no news of them, we will come back here and look. Understand?"

"But they might be here," Will cried, turning back to shuffle through the mess.

"If they're here, they're dead," Dan snapped, spinning back to mount his horse. He heard Will moving closer. The boy mounted up and the pair turned their eyes back the way they had come.

The ride back to Bisbee was one of the longest and quietest in Dan's life. It was as if the very air could sense their mood and had somehow stilled itself to a mourning still. It gave Dan time to think.

The first thing he tried to wrap his mind about was the loss of Alice. Sadness flooded his mind, but it was not nearly as suffocating as he would have thought it to be. The loss he felt was that for a friend and loyal wife, not a lover. Thinking about it, he and Alice had not really been lover's since Mark's birth years earlier. The hardships of raising the child had pulled them apart. Made them argue. Made her unable to even look Dan in the eye most of the time. Dan could still remember the night he left for Bisbee and the look she had given him as he walked out the door. That final cold kiss on the cheek. They were meaningless symbols. He was a friend, the father of her children, but never a lover.

The loss of Mark was harder to take. Dan had adored his youngest son, and loved him all the more when they came so close to losing him before they had moved south. And Mark had loved his father. The look in his son's eyes the night he had brought Ben Wade to the house had lingered somewhere between worship and worry. Sometimes Dan had thought that Mark was the only one in the family who loved his without reserve. Then there were the moments when even his youngest son was swayed against his father.

William had changed dramatically over the course of the last month. The rebellious boy who had left the ranch had gotten lost somewhere along the trail to Contention, revealing a stubborn young man. The boy had matured, probably been forced to mature, after seeing his father struck so low by his wounds. But William could look at him now. Dan smiled to himself, quickly erasing the grin from his face as darker thoughts descended. Two familiar and essential parts of his past life had just vanished. That would always be a loss.

"Bisbee," Will mumbled, his voice hidden beneath the horses' hooves' pounding in the near silence of the road.

"Bisbee," Dan repeated. He locked his eyes on the town ahead, trying to force the picture of his former home from his mind to no avail. The town drew nearer, but Dan and Will didn't speak. Dan could see the railroad men laying out the train's future path with their wooden stakes, marking for the iron road to come. The pair road past the workers, returning silent nods of greeting and goodbye. They paused on the road between the first two buildings.

"Where to, Pa?" Will asked quietly, shying his horse closer. Their legs were nearly touching, and the horses nipped playfully at the other for a moment then stopped, almost as if they too knew the reason for this visit.

"The sheriff's, I believe. Then Grayson."

"Grayson may not be back yet." Dan looked sharply at his son, causing Will to hurry on with his explanation. "He had some business in Yuma, then he was going to another town down that way for a while. Railroad business, he said."

"Then the money?" Dan was worried now. Grayson Butterfield had promised him 1000, delivered upon his return to Bisbee.

"He gave it to me," Will replied. "I sent it back to ma with a Pinkerton."

Dan's face fell. "But they always get robbed." Will smiled.

"By Ben Wade." Dan allowed his lips to curve up into a slight grin, his mind still preoccupied as he sent his horse trotting down to the sheriff's.

"Stay here with the horses, Will." His son nodded, unexpectedly obeying his father's orders. Dan dismounted, took the two steps up to the front door with an awkward hop, then limped into the office.

"Sheriff?" Dan looked about the cluttered room, noting the disarray of papers on the desk and the dozing man behind it. He stepped further into the room and called again. "Sheriff."

"What? Huh? Who goes there?" The man snapped to attention, his eyes rolling about wildly before settling onto Dan. "Holy lord," the man muttered, crossing himself. "A ghost."

"No," Dan replied in annoyance. "I'm no ghost, Sheriff."

"Dan? Dan Evans?" the man asked in surprise, standing and circling the desk to stand in front of the not-so-dead man.

"Yes."

"You're alive? We all though for sure when you didn't come back from Yuma that you were dead. Especially after Alice left the ranch."

"What?" Dan lurched forward, causing the sheriff to shuffle back against the desk. "She left?"

"Yeah," the sheriff replied quietly. "She left about five days after you did with a wagon and the horses. God knows what happened to the cattle. Someone else probably took those."

"She left? With Mark?"

"Well I assume she took the boy," the sheriff looked confused now, anxious too. "They went west, to the coast I'd assume, but don't quote me on that. Said she had some relatives there who could put Mark through school."

"Shit," Dan said under his breath, backing up to lean against the wall. He could see William still sitting abreast his horse, his eyes watchful as he gazed up and down the street. "What do I do now?"

"You mean with the ranch gone?" Dan glared at the sheriff's obvious comment. The man ignored it, finally regaining his nerve now that he knew he spoke to one of the living. "I would suggest finding another occupation."

"But I paid for the ranch. Butterfield sent 1000 here by my name." The sheriff looked at him, pity staining the gray eyes.

"No Pinkertons, whom I assume you assigned to bring the money, have been through here for a solid month. Not since the last ones got robbed."

"Damn it!" Dan turned to slam his fist against the wall, wincing when the harshness of the movement unsettled one of the bullet wounds. "Damn it," he said again, more softly as he hit his head against the wall.

"I'm sorry Mr. Evans," the sheriff said quietly. "If there is anything I can do—"

"Did Alice say where they were going?" The sheriff shook his head sadly.

"West. She thought you were dead, Dan."

Dan sighed and straightened up. "Hollander?" he asked quietly, facing the doorway.

"Dead."

"Good."

"Many would agree with you on that, Dan." The sheriff paused. "Do you want to stay in town for the night? My wife and I could put you up."

"No thanks, sheriff. I think me and my boy will hole up out on the ranch for a couple nights and salvage what we can. If that's alright." Dan frowned. He didn't like the fact that he had to ask to stay on his own ranch. Or what had been his ranch.

"It's fine by me," the sheriff said quietly, looking at the hunched figure that made for the door. "But Dan, the fire happened about 10 days ago. I don't know what you'll find."

"Thanks." Dan limped out the door, a great weight dropping onto his shoulders, relieved only by one thing: Alice and Mark were alive.

"Pa?" William asked anxiously as Dan hop-limped down the steps and mounted up.

"They're alive, Will." The boy let out a whoosh of air.

"Thank God."

"But we're not going to be able to find them." Will's head snapped up at that, some of the old defiance returning to his eyes.

"Why's that?"

"Sheriff said they went west to meet up with some of Alice's family. I didn't even know she had any relatives out west, so either she lied, or they really did head west. Either way, we have no idea where to look for them."

"Why would they leave?" Will's voice broke. Dan looked at his son, watching as he collapsed in one himself.

"They thought we were dead." Silence for a moment. "I think she did the right thing," Dan said softly, watching for William's reaction. The boy merely tensed. "Will," he said quietly. "If they had stayed, they could have been in danger from Hollander. And your ma was probably worried about Wade's gang as well, thinking me and you dead and all."

Will didn't speak as Dan led the way back out of Bisbee. They stopped only once for a small stash of bread and fresh water. He barely managed to pass on the tempting offer of whiskey from a concerned Emmy. He declined with a numbly polite nod. The last thing he needed was to get sloshed right now.

The ride back to the ranch was quiet. Solemn. Only once did Will speak, and that was only to point out that they could head west along the road to see if anyone had heard of Alice Evans. Dan shook his head.

"She wouldn't have been giving her name out if she was trying to hide. From Hollander or Wade." The ride after that was filled with an uncomfortable void of silence. They returned to the ranch around dusk, quickly laying out their rag tag collection of blankets to sleep. Neither bothered with a fire.

Nights such as these just couldn't be warmed.


	3. Chapter 3

Dan woke in the middle of the night cold and tense. Something had disturbed him from his dreams, though he had no idea what. Remaining absolutely still, Dan closed his eyes and listened since his eyes weren't going to be of much use on a moonless night. There: a single horse, moving toward them from the road to Bisbee. Dan sat up, forgoing the element of surprise in favor of his rifle's steely comfort. Careful not to wake William, Dan crouched over his own bedroll, grateful that they had forgone the fire tonight.

The horse stopped, whinnying quietly when booted feet hit the ground. The quiet thuds of heavy boots moved closer, stirring up dust around the man's feet. Dan both cursed and blessed the cloudy, moonless night's partial obstruction of his sight. Only the tall, bulky shadow of visitor was visible, topped off with a black hat nearly invisible against the backdrop of the night. Dan frowned, squinting in the poor light as the man came nearer and stopped barely five feet away. Their eyes meet as eyes do in darkness, Dan's hazel eyes colliding with blue-greens in the dark and creating eerie glows of unnatural color.

"Wade!" Dan nearly choked in surprise, standing from his crouched position. Wade raised a shadow of a brow.

"Dan," Wade replied with a tip of his hat.

Silence stretched between them as Dan struggled to find his tongue. Wade gave one of his signature grins, obviously amused with the rancher's confusion. "You got out of Yuma," Dan finally choked out, "again." His comment was blatant effort to fill the silence.

"And you're alive, Dan." Wade glanced down at Will's sleeping form after a quick examination of the rancher's slight form. "The boy made it through alright, too." Wade stepped forward and stood next to Dan and the slumbering figure. "He's a sound sleeper."

"Yes."

Silence reigned again as Wade strode off to look at the burned house and barn. Dan followed, uncertainly glancing back only once at his son's sleeping face before shadowing Wade. The man had stopped before the edge of what had once been the house and was staring intently at the area which used to be the kitchen.

"Your wife made a mean steak, Dan."

"That she did." Dan smiled, remembering how he had been forced to cut Wade's meat for him the last time he was here.

"I'd meant to visit you for another." Wade glanced at the smiling figure next to him in the dark and spoke quietly. "Is she alive, Dan?"

"Yes."

"Where?" Dan was silent. Wade felt uncomfortable in the atmosphere's sudden gloom. The uncertainly made him twitchy. "I'm sorry," he said harshly.

"It's your fault. In a way," Dan muttered, inclining his head as if to hide beneath his hat. Too bad he had left it next to his bedroll. He lifted his head again. "Anyway, maybe it's for the best."

"Really."

"Why are you here, Wade?" Dan turned and faced the older man, his voice clipped.

"Why Dan," Wade said with a confident sliver of a smile, "aren't we friends yet?"

"Is that what we are now?" Dan grumbled under his breath, awkwardly kicking at the dirt around his feet with his bad foot. The rain they'd seen from Contention hadn't done much for the land. Dirt puffed up in clouds about his and Wade's feet, covering both their boots with brown powder. It showed more on Wade's black.

"Well, aside from the whole incident where you almost got killed, I would say we have a fairly good relationship." Wade grinned, drawing Dan's eyes up to meet his own. Dan allowed a small smile to draw his lips up as well. "Call me Ben, Dan."

"Alright. But you still haven't answered my question yet."

"Are you sure? The 'friends' part didn't cover—"

"Wade."

"Ben."

Dan sighed in exasperation. "_Ben,_" he said pointedly. "Why are you here?"

Ben turned back to the small camp Dan and William had set up. They could both hear Will stirring from the quiet whisper of their conversation. Maybe he wasn't such a sound sleeper after all. Time watching his father on his death bed probably accounted for that.

"Well," Wade said finally, slowly walking through the dark night to where the boy lay. He could hear Dan's uneven strides following just behind him. "I had to see if you had actually lived. If you hadn't, I would have shot poor Charlie for nothing."

"Poor Charlie," Dan grumbled, absently tracing the scars on his chest through his shirt. Ben caught the motion, a light entering his eyes.

"You'll have to show me the scars. I'm sure they're impressive," the outlaw said with a lopsided grin. "At least for a rancher."

"They're impressive for anyone," William said indignantly. Wade's grin claimed more of his face and Dan merely watched the interaction between his son and the outlaw.

"Well now, boy," Wade said proudly, inserting a swagger into his stride for the last few steps it took to reach the temporary camp. "You ain't seen battle scars till you've seen all mine."

"Really?" Dan could hear his son's eyes lighting up.

"Really. Dan, your scars don't even compare."

"I'm glad," Dan replied tiredly. "Now stop talking to my boy and let me go back to sleep. He heard Wade chuckle as he crawled back into his bedroll. William continued to talk to Wade, his voice carrying a mix of admiration and fear. All Dan felt was exhaustion.

* * *

Dan woke up hot the next morning. He quickly opened his eyes. To his left lay Will. The boy was curled up into his blankets, his face peaceful in sleep. Dan reached out to touch his forehead but thought better of it. He didn't want to wake him. Then Dan looked to his right. Ben Wade, the famous outlaw, was sprawled across a good part of Dan's blankets, one arm resting on his chest while to other held the brim of his hat over his face. Dan squirmed, trying to free himself from the entanglement on his son's legs and Wade's legs' sheer weight. The older man stirred, instantly waking as Dan strove to free himself.

"Whoa there cowboy," Wade said cockily. "Where the hell are you going?"

Dan glared. "I gotta piss. Now move it, outlaw." Wade grinned without showing his teeth, moving his legs, but catching Dan's belt loop when the man tried to stand, a quiet chuckle rumbling his chest when the slender man fell back to the blankets with an awkward flail.

"Liar," Ben whispered into his ear, wrapping an arm about the rancher's waist to momentarily hold him in place.

"Let the hell go, Wade," Dan said sharply, punctuating his sentence with a sharp kick from his wooden foot.

Wade cussed under his breath, releasing his temporary prisoner as he rolled onto his side to cradle his shin. "Not smart, Evans." Dan merely waved as he hurriedly limped off to the hill and its scraggy assortment of bushes. Wade shook out his leg and sat, watching as Dan moved behind the bushes to conceal himself from watchful eyes, namely Wade himself. Ben grinned as Dan moved from behind the bush and began his quick but uneven lope back.

"So," Wade said. "You actually did need to take a piss." Dan glared and moved to the packs he and William had from travel, as well as the small bag from Bisbee. What food they had would feed two, but not three, for a couple days. Dan jumped when Wade appeared over his shoulder. "No wonder you and your boy are such skinny little creatures," he laughed, the sound airy as small puffs of hot air swirled about Dan's ear. "You hardly eat at all." This only earned him another glare. Still laughing, Wade strode over to his horse, giving the animal quiet praise while he pulled the saddle and packs from its back.

"You better have your own food if you're planning on staying here, Wade."

"Of course," the outlaw replied, pulling a brown burlap sack from his saddle bags and tossing it in Dan's direction. Dan frowned when he caught the bag and felt its weight.

"Just how long are you staying here, Wade?"

"Ben."

Dan grunted in annoyance. "Fine. _Ben,_ how long are you staying here?"

"I believe," Wade replied, "that the real question is how long are you staying here." Dan looked up in surprise, then suspicion.

"Why does that matter?" Dan asked warily, standing to be on a more even level with what he used to think a dangerous criminal. Should it worry him that he no longer saw Wade as a serious threat to his or his son's safety? A very large part of his brain screamed yes.

Wade moved closer until he stood only an arm's distance away. "I believe, Dan, that you are out of a ranch."

"Yes," Dan said slowly, turning his head slightly and gazing at Wade from the corner of his eyes.

"And I," Ben continued, "am in need of an outfit. This is due to you."

"And I have no ranch because of you," Dan growled back, his usually careful eyes lit with an inner fire.

"I like this side of you Dan," Wade said with a crooked smile. "Anger makes your eyes an even darker green."

"And we already had this conversation."

"You never answered." This was the outlaw Dan knew; the predatory figure he could take as a threat to his sanity and William's safety. Or it had been. There was no way Dan would even be able to defend himself, let alone his son, against the larger man in his current condition. Yet a part of his mind told him to trust Wade. He had, after all, gotten on that train.

"Why me?" Dan's voice was quiet. He again titled his head down, very much used to the shadowy shelter of his hat. It still lay by the bedrolls. "Why William?"

Wade's lips curled up as he inclined his head, blue-green eyes seeking Dan's hidden orbs with an unfaltering confidence. He knew he was winning, slowly pulling the man into his sticky web. "Because, Dan," he said slowly, leaning closer so his breath mixed with the rancher's heavy breathing as he spoke, "I have seen your boy shoot. And I have seen your guts. Your stubbornness."

"I'm not stubborn," Dan interrupted, turning to face the outlaw directly.

"Ah, I'm sorry. We established this back at the station." Ben said flatly. The man was only proving his point. "You both need a way to live. And I need an outfit, since I killed my last one for you. You dealt with me, so I think you could handle the rest." Dan stood in silence for a few moments, frowning as he examined Wade's shadowed face. The older man had, unlike Dan, remembered to put on his hat.

"Pa?" William spoke quietly, though he still managed to startle the rancher. The outlaw merely grinned at Dan's response. "Pa? Are we going to do it?"

"Will," Dan said slowly, patiently. Ben recognized the tone of voice Dan had used to try and get the boy to stay home from the trip to Yuma a month before. No chance it would work now, not after William had been the one taking care of Dan for so long. "We can't—"

Bang!

The startlingly clear ring of the gunshot echoed in the three men's ears. Eyes scanning the hills, Dan, Will, and Ben quickly grabbed their gear and moved to hide behind the miraculously still present woodpile. It had never seemed so far. Ben whistled for his horse. The animal galloped to him, followed shortly by the other two. All three stood behind the little shelter provided by the woodpile, whinnying and shifting as bullets ricocheted off the logs and called up dust about their hiding place. William quickly pulled out his pistol, whipping it toward where one of their attackers was hidden and firing off three quick, consecutive shots. No more bullets flew their way from that direction. Wade watched the boy pick off anther of their attackers before he spotted and took out the third and fourth himself, the pair stupidly clustered together on the open hill. Still metal rain pounded the earth about them.

"Dan," Wade called harshly, "mind giving us some help?" He targeted and killed the fifth man before bending down to look at Dan's huddled form. "Shit," he muttered, watching as blood seeped from two spots on the rancher's chest.

"Is he okay?" William's voice was laced with concern as he looked over his shoulder to where Ben was crouched over his father.

"Boy," Wade said sharply. "Keep your eyes on your targets and take them out. You're the only one still shooting here." William swallowed in surprise, nodding curtly before fixing his face in a stony mask and taking out the next two men.

"If I didn't know better, Wade," Dan said quietly. "I would say these men knew you were here."

"Shut up, Dan." William looked down at the pair in alarm. Ben glared up at him, nodding forward with a sharp motion as he peeled Dan's shirt away from his skin. The rancher glared at him the entire time. "Shut up, Dan."

"I'm not saying anything, outlaw." Ben grimaced, resisting the cruel urge to poke one of the rapidly oozing wounds. Instead he pulled one of Dan's older shirts from his bag and ripped a strip from the bottom. Pulling the man forward, Ben quickly wrapped the bandage about the man's chest, tying it tightly enough, he hoped, to keep the wounds from bleeding too much.

"I'm not sure I like this side of you, Dan," Wade said. Dan glanced up at him with a scowl. "You really should learn to avoid getting shoot."

"Fuck off, Wade." Bullets sprayed dust and wood into their faces as he pushed Dan back upright against the logs.

"Boy, weren't you supposed to be shooting these thugs?" William glared at Wade as the older man stood. The outlaw was pleased to see some of his father's spark in the boy's eyes.

"It's not my fault they decided to have the reinforcements come around behind us." Will winced as a bullet grazed his arm but kept firing, hissing out a curse at the bullet's bite.

Wade grunted as bullets whizzed through the air. In a flash, he had the Hand of God out and pointed at one of the men trying to sneak up on them from behind. One shot and the man was down. Three more had all of the men who had attempted to ring about them from behind on the ground, writhing about as they desperately tried to hold onto their lives. Wade turned forward, shoving Will down as a sharpshooter took aim at the boy's head. He was flat on his back with a bullet between his eyes before he had even properly lined up the shot. Four more shots of metallic lighting took out the last of their attackers.

"How many was that?" Will's voice was filled with reverent awe. Wade looked down at the young man, repositioning his hat and slipping the Hand of God into its holster.

"Sixteen." Will looked uncomfortably down at this father.

"That's a lot of men to kill," he said quietly.

"That's a lot of men to come to a burned down ranch," Dan replied with a glare at the outlaw.

Wade grinned. "Little red ants on a hill."


	4. Chapter 4

The threesome sat behind their temporary haven of logs, each silently wrapped up in the cloth of their own thoughts. Dan was the first to break the silence, his green eyes hard as he looked at the outlaw in their midst.

"Do you even know who these men are, Wade?" The outlaw looked at him, readjusting his black hat to sit higher on his forehead.

"I have an idea of who they might have been," he replied, standing up and brushing the dust and splinters from his black ensemble.

"We should go check," Will added, standing as well. When his father tried to stand to join them, Will put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "You're injured, Pa. You're staying here." Dan glared at Wade.

"You are not making my boy go and check dead bodies."

Ben raised an eyebrow, his lips quirking simultaneously. "I'm not making him come. We're making you stay."

"I'm coming, too," Dan said angrily, trying to get enough leverage with his good leg to straighten out his bad. "You can't make me stay here." William stooped down and firmly grasped his father's wooden leg, jerking it just so to make it come off. The boy handed the fake appendage to Ben, who looked at it with interest before walking to the nearest body. Will joined him.

"William!" Dan bellowed angrily. "William, bring that back!"

"Sorry, Pa," his son replied apologetically. He continued his observation of the first body. Wade emptied the man's pockets, handing random bits to the boy and dropping the others near the body. Dan growled and cursed under his breath, realizing his incapacitation.

Ben and Will moved to the next body, carefully watched by Dan. He could only see four of the bodies. Once his son and the outlaw moved to the other side of the stockpile he wouldn't be able to see their movements. Dan frowned more, shifting his ragged brown hat so that it didn't hit the wood behind his head but still shaded his eyes.

"What are you finding?" he called out, trying to keep his voice from sounding as annoyed as he felt. Ben glanced back over his shoulder from where he was crouched next to the body. Will stood next to him, a mix of revulsion and fascination playing across his youthful features.

"You calm again, Dan?" the outlaw asked, not moving from his crouch and allowing Will to resume the search of the man's pockets.

"No," the rancher replied sharply.

"Alright then." Wade stood and pulled lightly on Will's jacket to indicate that he should check the third man. Ben himself moved to the fourth. Their search was quicker this time. The pair finally moved back to where Dan sat hunched against the wood, glaring at them both and pointedly staring at his wooden leg, now held under Wade's arm. Will shifted uneasily under his father's pointed glare while Wade glanced over the wood and to the rest of the bodies.

"If you stay still, Dan, I will give this back." He held out the prosthetic for examination.

Dan huffed and leaned forward, extending his hand. "Alright, Wade, just give me the damn thing."

"Boy," Wade said, his tone of command leaking into his voice. Dan didn't like it being used with his son. "Leave what you got here. In the bag." Wade nodded toward the burlap bag his food was in. Will quickly transferred the outlaw's food into one of their bags and dumped his loot.

"That was a silver watch," Dan said, aghast. "Now you have my boy stealing, Wade?"

"It's not stealing if they don't have no more use for it."

"Of course it is. It still belongs—"

"They would of done the same to us, Pa." William spoke quietly before hurrying off to examine the other corpses. Ben dropped the prosthetic into Dan's outstretched arm.

"Your conscience is still far too sensitive, Dan. Still don't think I like that about you." Ben moved to follow Will, stopping only for a second. "They tried to kill you, Dan. You, your boy, and me. Don't worry about them so much as you." Dan sat in silence, staring absently at the stark landscape about him; its warm red dirt, prickly yellowing grasses, rolling balls of dead brush, all of it punctuated by the disturbingly lifeless bodies of their attackers, which seemed almost to fit in the desolate land.

"Mr. Wade," Will called out hesitantly. "I think you should see this." Dan could almost hear the frown in the outlaw's footsteps as he picked his way over to Will. Impatient to see the source of the disturbance, Dan wrestled his wood and iron leg back onto its proper place, clumsily pulling himself upright with the aide of the logs at his back. His wounds twinged with the motion, then outright burned as he loped to where Will and Ben stood over one of the bodies.

"Damn it," Dan hissed. He was looking down into the face of Bisbee's new sheriff. Wade eyes flickered to his as they both examined the shocked and bloodied visage of a man who died in fear.

"Know him?"

"Yes," Dan replied, leaning heavily to his good leg. "He's Bisbee's sheriff."

William looked up from where he knelt next to the body. "Holy shit," he muttered.

"Language," Dan snapped back. Wade only chuckled, the sound low and almost inaudible in the open space. "It's not funny, Wade." A crooked smile, mixed with that ever annoying self confidence of his, filled his face.

"Looks like we're all outlaws now, Dan." Dan refused to meet the older man's eyes. Will looked up at Wade, his light green eyes, so like his father's in color, filled with an excitement completely unlike Dan's.

"So we are going to be outlaws for a living," Will said quietly, his eyes dreamy as he recalled all of the stories filling the pages of his penny dreadfuls. Dan frowned. He thought the boy would have understood that such tales weren't nearly as fantastic as often made to seem.

"No," Dan said firmly. "We're going to go into town and explain this."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, Dan, but who exactly are you going to explain this situation to?" Dan opened his mouth to reply, quickly closing it as he looked at the man lying dead at his feet. "No one is going to listen to the story of a man they have all thought dead, Dan."

"Let me go into town," Will said quickly, eagerly standing. "Of the three of us, I'm the least noticeable." Wade raised an eyebrow.

"You've got a point there," he replied with a smirk. "Between peg leg here and my status as a highly respected criminal, you have the best odds."

"No."

"Dan, you have a better idea?"

"Yes. Leave my son out of this."

"He's involved, Dan. Whether you like it or not, he was in this the moment he left the ranch to follow you."

"That doesn't mean he needs to be involved in this, Wade."

"I think it does, Dan."

"No."

"Yes." William surprised both men with his input. "Just let me ride into town and check it out. If no one looks at me funny or anything, I'll get us some more food, maybe some bandages, and we can head out."

"And how are we paying for this? If I remember correctly, Butterfield's money was conveniently lost by someone in transit."

"Pa," Will said placating. "We have money. The guys here," he nodded to the bodies, "all had a little bit on them." Dan threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, quickly bringing them down when the movement tugged harshly on his already reopened wounds. Ben took advantage of the rancher's distraction to point Will off to Bisbee. The boy quickly hurried to his horse, snatching his gun up from where he had left it on the woodpile. Ben frowned and made a mental note to tell him to keep his gun at hand at all times.

"Boy," he called as Will swung up onto the saddle. William looked toward him expectantly. "We need a good amount of ammunition as well."

"Yessir," he replied quickly.

"And boy?"

"Yes?"

"Buy it in more than one place if you can." Will nodded before prancing his horse about to set off to the road. Dan glared at Ben from his hunched position.

"I can't believe you just sent William off into danger."

"Possible danger," Wade corrected, grabbing Dan's shoulder and turning him about in as gentle a manner as possible while still demanding obedience. "Unless someone survived—which no one did—or someone saw us here, he is in no danger in Bisbee." Dan grunted and followed Ben's direction back to their temporary shelter next to the logs. This time he lay down on the ground, exhaustion and pain dragging him down.

"If I had wondered before why it was taking you so long to heal, I certainly know now," Wade said smugly, pulling what he needed from a pack before crouching over Dan's limp form. "You're a stubborn, one-legged rancher, that's for sure."

"Not stubborn," Dan muttered, his eyes flickering shut.

"Hey," Ben said gruffly, lightly slapping his face. "No sleeping, understand?"

"I'm tired, you stupid son-of-a-bitch. Let me sleep." Wade growled.

"You're lucky I don't go killing injured men, else you'd be dead right now, Dan."

"No cliff for you to throw me over here, Wade."

"Ben. And I don't need a cliff to kill any man, little rancher. You've seen that too." Ben stopped talking for a moment to pull open Dan's shirt again. "Damn it, Dan. You really need to stop this whole moving around while injured thing. Now sit up." Dan complied, though slowly. Ben quickly pulled the shirt completely off and unwrapped his earlier hasty bandaging. Dan flinched away from the gruff manner in which the outlaw pulled the dirty cloth from his chest. The movement did not go unnoticed.

"Not as nice as the nurses in Contention, am I Dan?"

"You think?"

"Then stop hurting yourself." Wade pulled out strips of cloth from William's pack. "Looks like your son at least came prepared."

"Shut up, Wade." The bandages all off, Ben began to wrap the clean cloths over the oozing wounds, trying to make them as tight as possible to stop the bleeding without actually cutting off circulation. Dan tried to remain still, though the touch of fabric to his reopened wounds was painful. Ben paused each time the younger man flinched away, trying, though he would fervently deny it, to cause as little discomfort as possible.

"Wade?" Dan asked quietly. Ben grunted to acknowledge his question. "Are you sure Will is going to be alright in town?"

"For God's sake Dan. Yes, he'll be fine." Both men froze when they heard the quiet thudding of a horse's hooves. Dan looked at Ben in alarm. "All the bodies," he whispered. The outlaw nodded, quickly finishing his bandaging. The rider came closer. Both men crouched on alert behind the woodpile, each grasping their gun tightly. Dan levered himself up to look over the logs with a push from his good leg. He could see the rider slowly guiding his discontented horse among the bodies, gazing in horror at the bloodied faces. He stopped when he reached the sheriff's body, eyes widening in alarm as he took in the crimson coated gold star. Then he glanced about, panic making his gaze swing rapidly about in all directions. Almost instantly he honed in on Dan's head.

"You!" he cried, firing a succession of shots in the pair's general direction. Dan ducked down behind the shelter of the woodpile quickly, his eyes meeting Ben's.

"Guess he's not going to let us explain," Wade muttered, bobbing up to his full height to take a shot. The rider's face filled with fear.

"Ben Wade!"

Dan popped up beside him, his gun also trained on the horseman. His horse dancing about wildly in fear of both the bodies and the armed men, the rider quickly turned his horse about toward the road to Bisbee. Dan fired off a shot, missing.

"Damn it," he muttered, sinking down to the ground. The crack of Wade's Hand of God rang out with no answering scream or tumble. Dan looked up to Ben's face as he too sat again.

"Guess you won't be going back to Bisbee, Dan." Worry crossed the rancher's face.

"What about William?"

"He wasn't here, Dan, so don't worry about it." Wade removed his hat, ran his fingers through his hair and replaced it. "We, on the other hand, need to move."

"What about—"

"Will? We'll catch him before he gets far from Bisbee." Dan looked pained as he gazed at the older man with his emerald eyes.

"But this is my home, Wade."

"Not anymore, Dan," Ben said with a crooked grin. "Outlaws ain't got no home."


	5. Chapter 5

Ben wasted no time idling about once making his decision. Dan, on the other hand, sat staring at the land he had owned, had lived on, had seen destroyed.

"Dan," Wade called impatiently, his face calm. "Move it." Dan shifted his weight to his good leg and pushed himself up on the wood pile. He moved like a blind man, unseeing, unaware of what was happening about him. He absently moved all of his belongings into his packs, not that many had had the opportunity to be removed, before saddling his horse and tying both bags back onto it. His horse remained still, almost as if she could feel his mood.

"Dan," Wade called again, already up and mounted. The rancher saw some of Will's belongings tied next to Ben's. "Mount up. We need to ride." Dan nodded, numbly stepping his good leg into the stirrup and swinging his gimp one over. Wade moved his horse closer until their legs touched, sandwiched between the two huge bodies. "Snap out of it, Dan. We still need to make sure Will is alright."

"Alright," Dan replied, forcefully shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "Alright, Wade, let's ride." The outlaw's lips parted in a feral smile. Dan shivered in response.

"You're free, Dan," Wade murmured, his voice infused with something akin to insanity: passion. "You're free of everything that ever bound you. Of all your old obligations. All you have to do now is ride." Dan licked his lips nervously before lifting his head and meeting the outlaw's blue-green eyes directly.

"Free," he whispered, turning back to gaze at his land, his life, one last time before nudging his horse forward toward Bisbee.

Even before they reached the edge of the town, in fact as soon as he saw it on the horizon, Dan knew something was wrong. He called to Ben, who was now riding half a length ahead of him. The outlaw slowed slightly so their beasts ran side by side, matching each other's gait as they galloped toward Bisbee.

"Something wrong, Dan?" Wade called out, trying to be heard over the excited thunder of both horses' hooves.

"Yes," Dan replied equally, "I don't know what, but I can feel it." Wade grimaced.

"Damn it, Dan, you're already thinking something's wrong and you haven't even been riding an hour yet."

"I don't feel it, Wade, I know it." Wade glanced at the rancher once more before allowing his eager horse to pull slightly ahead and exercise it's dominance. The outlaw scrunched his brows in an attempt to discern any activity among Bisbee's locals. He could see nothing this far out, though he knew for sure that the town's people could see him and Dan approaching in their cloud of dust.

"I hope you're wrong, Dan," he muttered under his breath.

"So do I." Wade looked back in surprise, noticing Dan's gaze also intently focused on Bisbee's small but growing collection of buildings. They continued to ride closer at a quick gallop, the earlier freedom restricted by an overwhelming weight of apprehension. A few hundred yards out from the first of Bisbee's buildings, just beyond the path set out for the new railroad, the pair slowed to a trot, their eyes darting from one building to the next. Nothing moved. No one made a sound. Dan drew up short, listening carefully. Wade copied the motion, millions of unthinkable curses running through his head. They were walking into a trap; they both knew it, yet neither could afford not to, for Dan wanted to get William back and Ben wanted to keep Dan safe.

"We should have stopped outside of town and waited for your boy to come back."

"No," Dan said slowly. "They were never going to let him leave." Wade followed the rancher's eyes. There, near the center of the town by the sheriff's office, was the man who had come to the ranch, his horse frothing at the mouth next to him.

"Shit," Dan swore, his green eyes taking in the crowd in the center of the town, most of it armed. His son was handcuffed to the railing outside of the sheriff's small office.

"Stop swearing, Dan. Let me deal with this." Dan looked back in alarm as Wade slid his gun into the palm of his hand, fingers closing tightly about it. If ever he had needed the Hand of God to interfere, it was now, to save his son's lift. Part of his mind registered the irony that God should be acting through the gun of an outlaw, but at that moment, his mind was fixated on far more important things. He allowed Ben to pull his horse closer to Dan's own brown, noticing that the proximity would obscure the gun from the townspeople. His fingers itched to hold his own rifle, but knew that there was no way without to without showing hostility.

"Go forward," Wade said quietly. Dan nodded and gave his horse a gentle nudge. The animal lunged forward, alarmed by the anger and hate coming off the crowd before them in almost visible waves. Wade whistled his own mount forward, once again forcing their animals to ride abreast. They paused two buildings away, carefully aligning themselves so that Ben had a clear shot at most of the doors and windows on the street. Dan wished for more ammunition, realizing that they weren't going to get very far if they couldn't get a hold on any before leaving Bisbee. If they ever even made it out, that was.

Wade sat tall in his saddle, his eyes flickering momentarily to Dan's tense form then back to the angry mob. He focused his attention on what appeared to be the center of the group; the spark which had set the fire ablaze. "I believe," he said slowly, "that there has been a mistake." Angry grumbles rumbled through the mob. The man in the center, the very one who had seen them at the ranch, raised his hand to quiet the group, obviously enjoying his temporary power.

"I don't think there was any mistake here, Ben Wade," he said loudly, a smug smile of confidence on his face for having found the guts to say the outlaws name to his face. Murmurs of approval waved their way through the crowd, touching the lips of all fifty or sixty people present. Ben hoped that not many more were hiding in the buildings, further cutting their chances of getting out alive. "No one's gonna believe a word you say, you murdering son-of-a-bitch."

Dan glanced at Ben's back, grinning madly to himself at the anger welling just beneath the outlaw's skin. For once he was glad for the man's unpredictable nature and odd sensitivity to insults to men's mothers. It might just get them out of this mess alive. "He ain't injured, Wade," Dan said quietly, his trigger finger jumping to reach down and grasp hold of his rifle. A low chuckle filled the air around the pair, sending the crowd's eyes wide in alarm.

"No he ain't," Ben replied. "Not yet at least." The outlaw whipped the Hand of God up and leveled it for a shot at the man in the center of the mob, most likely the only one to be unarmed. The gun sang it's harsh song, puffing smoke with the speed of the shots; one, two, three, four, five, six. Reload. Dan had leveled his own weapon at the two men perched near his son, quickly taking them out, his conscience ignored as he fought for his son's life and his own freedom. The two men down, Dan leveled the gun at the chain binding the two cuffs, watching as his son ducked his head just before the bullet screeched on the metal, cutting Will free from the rail. The boy ducked into the sheriff's office, and Dan, losing sight of his son and trusting the boy to look after his own safety, returned his attention to the crowd.

Six men lay dead, plus the two who had guarded Will. The rest were frozen in shock and horror at seeing the murderous lighting of the Hand of God strike down their comrades so effortlessly. Silence crept over the streets of Bisbee, interrupted only by William's shuffling in the sheriff's office. The clink of metal against metal indicated that the boy was probably grabbing them enough ammunition to last for a long while. Or at least out of range of Bisbee, depending on whether or not the crowd before them chose to give chase.

"Good boy," Ben said cheerfully, a small grin distorting his lips as Will emerged from the sheriff's, his own guns in hand and a dozen cartridge belts filled with ammunition. Someone in the crowd stepped forward to take aim at William; both Dan and Ben fired, knocking him to the ground. Wade whistled, glancing momentarily at Dan's guarded expression. "Nice reaction time."

"Let's talk about that later," Dan hissed back, returning his attention to his son as the boy whistled for his horse, which eagerly twisted free of its restraints in the back of the crowd and trotted to him unimpeded.

"Nice work, kid," Wade said with an open smile as William rode up to them, stopping and facing the crowd on Wade's other side. Dan glanced at him, noting the series of cuts and bruises lining his son's face.

"Thanks," Will replied, his smile showing brightly against his tanned face, reflecting his youth, his innocence. Dan mourned the fact that such looks would soon be erased.

"Let's get out," Dan said quietly. "Now." Wade nodded minutely.

"I'll go in back," he said quietly. "Dan, you go first and have your boy follow you. Closely." Dan nodded, catching his son's eyes for a split second before quickly pulling the reins to redirect his horse out of Bisbee. He could almost feel William's mount breathing on his back, and the sound of Wade's warning shot was enough of an indication that the man followed close behind. Wade whistled for his horse to go faster, and Dan could feel the command teasing his own mount's hooves into a quicker pace. The trio sent their horses into a heart-racing gallop, each holding their breath until they were clear at last of the confinement of Bisbee's streets. Still they raced on, no one willing to slow the pace and allow any pursuers to catch up. Their horses muscles rolled beneath them, sending them flying across the arid plain and sending crackling grass to the earth beneath pounding hooves. William whooped, the pure ecstasy of escape pumping his adrenaline faster through his veins. A broad smile claimed Dan's lips as he watched his son. They were free, truly and utterly free of all restrictions. He pulled off his hat, holding it back with one hand to drag in the wind, enjoying the rough pull of its gusts tugging on his scraggly hair.

Ben Wade watched the pair from the corner of his eye, a light smile pulling his lips up the barest amount. He hadn't seen Dan so carefree and wild since meeting the stern rancher. Something about this untamed side drew Ben in, fascinated him as it warred with the domestic side of the rancher. It reminded him very much of the coyotes he often saw wandering the sands when he stayed the night in the desert; timid and quiet until they decided to fight back.


	6. Chapter 6

The trio rode hard into the plain, the miles flying by beneath their feet in a whirl of color and sound. Their horses were as tireless as their riders, almost as if they fed off the very energy they exuded. Far from the sight of Bisbee, the trio slowed to a more moderate pace in favor of keeping their horses fresh and energized in case of trouble. The slower pace allowed thoughts to flow more easily, the wind no longer taking them from a burdened mind. They rode in silence, each quiet and wrapped in their own concerns. Their mounts continued to try to pull closer to a gallop, their energy and tension pushing them faster.

"Dan," Wade called, looking back at the rancher's focused face.

"Yes?" Dan replied, glancing up and nudging his horse to pull even. Will remained several lengths behind them, his gaze distracted by the oddly familiar and foreign beauty of land so far from home.

"What are you thinking, Dan?" Wade asked, sure he didn't really want to know.

"We killed eight men, Wade. And that was just in town." Wade sighed, annoyed that the rancher—though he was probably best addressed as a former rancher now—would break the mood with such gloomy thoughts.

"Eight men who would have killed you, Dan. You, me, and William. Surely even your conscience can acknowledge that."

"I can't." Ben pulled his horse up short, Dan's horse stopping in surprise.

"Then leave it behind," Wade said ordered. "Outrun it and leave it behind, Dan." Wade could practically see the shyness slipping back into his wild coyote. "Dan," Wade called again. "You're going to have to try." With that, the outlaw released his pressure on the reins, allowing his mount to surge forward, rippling muscles translating into raw speed. Dan followed suit, forcefully wiping his frown from his face. Will, looking over his shoulder, took a moment to notice the increase in pace. With a broad smile, he gave his horse its head, reveling in the sheer sense of speed and power.

Fifteen minutes later they again slowed their pace, noting as they did the lowering of the sun in the sky.

"We've got about an hour until sunset," Ben said, not bothering to look back and see if the others were following close enough to hear him. "There's a ridge ahead we can camp under. It'll give us some shelter." He took the father and son's silence as acknowledgement. Again they rode in absolute quiet, but Wade didn't mind. It often turned out this way when he and his outfits rode, each man wandering somewhere in their daydreams as they covered the endless miles. Ben had once picked up a penny dreadful recounting tales of his gang and his adventures. It had been truly amusing, the entire situation horribly romanticized by an ignorant author. The little book had detailed long and drawn out conversations among him and his companions about life and love and loss of comrades. He much preferred the silence to the philosophical nonsense the little book proposed.

"Wade?" William question after they had been riding for about twenty minutes, no more. "Where are we going?"

"West," Dan replied quietly. Ben glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, trying to hide his alarm at the uncaring tone.

"I know that," Will replied, exasperated. "Even I know that if we are riding into the sunset that's west. But where are we going? What city?"

Forcing himself to ignore Dan's current gloomy aura, Wade laughed, allowing the sound to rumble like distant thunder in his throat. "Well, boy," he replied, "we aren't exactly going to a city. More like between two cities."

"To a town?" William's eyes were eager as he urged his chestnut mount up to Wade's side.

"No."

"To a—"

"Road," Ben said, filling in.

"A road?" Will asked blankly, staring at Ben for a moment before studying the horizon before them as he thought. "For what?" Ben remained quiet, noticing Dan's discontent as the man began shifting behind them.

"I think your father might know, Will." Dan glared at the older man, the shadow of his brown hat further shadowing his eyes.

"Why, Pa?" Will asked, completely ignorant of the looks the two men were exchanging.

"What was Wade doing on the day we met him, Will?" Dan asked the question slowly, his eyes still locked on the outlaws turned back.

"Robbing a armored wagon," Will replied quickly. Then a spark filled his eyes, setting the green orbs ablaze in the eager anticipation of danger that so often claimed the hearts of adventurous youth.

"We're robbing someone?"

"Yes, boy. We most certainly are."

"Who?"

"I believe my sources said Pinkertons."

"No," Dan replied flatly. "We are not going up against one of those armored carts."

"I believe we are, Dan. Unless you don't feel like eating for the next couple days?" Dan remained silent, fuming to himself as his son peppered the older man with questions, only a fraction of which were answered by the amused outlaw. Now that his adrenaline rush had faded, Dan's wounds were beginning to hurt again. Burn actually, like the flesh was being torn to millions of pieces by deep stabbing needles and ripped away chunk by chunk. He grimaced, carefully guiding his horse into the blind spot right behind the chattering pair, or rather, his chattering son and the obliging Ben Wade. Sure that neither man could see him, Dan released his reins, trusting that his reliable mount would continue at the rather sedated pace like the others. Carefully, Dan pulled up his shirt, exhaling in distaste at the crimson stains flowing across the cloth on his chest. The wild pace of the galloping may have felt good, but he was paying for it now. Swallowing his curses, Dan let his shirt fall and grasped the reins again, holding them tight enough to whiten his knuckles. He could see a rising mound of earth and rock in the distance, most likely the refuge Ben had spoken of. He leaned low over his horse's neck, murmuring silent words of acknowledgement for the horse's exhaustion and his own and urging the beast to just keep going a little further.

"Rest," he whispered, not sure whether the word was meant for himself or the horse. "Water. Food." He caught Ben's eyes shifting discreetly his way and slowly straightened up, rubbing his horse's mane in an effort to look nonchalant and not like his chest was being torn open. It must have worked, for the man turned back to answering the boy's never-ending stream of questions. They continued riding, Will eventually falling silent as Wade began to evade more of his questions. It took them a good half hour more to reach the outcrop of rock and earth, by which time the sun was mostly hidden by the land's protective cloak. Dan sat atop his horse while the others dismounted, his gaze flickering disjointedly over the surrounding area.

"Pa?" Will looked up at his father in question. Wade looked over from where he was carefully removing his packs and saddle from his black horse's sweating form. "Pa?" Will called again, worry tainting his voice.

"One minute, Will," Dan called, his voice sounding far away.

"Shit," Wade cursed, promptly dropping his saddle bags and taking the three strides to Dan's horse's side in less than a second, barely managing to catch the rancher's shoulders as he tumbled toward the ground on his good side, leaving his prosthetic tangled in the stirrup. "Got him, Will," he said in quiet reassurance to the hovering son.

"Pa?"

"Go take watch up at the top of the ridge, Will." The boy looked at him stubbornly. Wade frowned. "I'll take care of him, Will. But I need to know that no one is going to come charging in here. Go." With a final concerned glance back, Will scampered up the rocky side of the ridge, agilely scaling the slipping surface to perch at the top with this gun resting on his crossed legs.

"Come on, Dan," Wade murmured, dragging the unconscious man's body away from the possible danger of the men's feet. He lay the man down, noticing, as he pulled his hands away, the fresh blood caking them. He muttered angrily to himself. "Shit, Dan. What don't you understand about taking it easy when injured?" Dan mumbled an unintelligible response. Ben laid out a blanket and pulled Dan onto it, carefully positioning him to prevent any unneeded stress on his chest wounds. With the rancher unconscious, he made quick work of discarding his jacket and shirt, soon followed by yet another set of bloodied bandages. He stared at the younger man's chest for a moment, taking in the muscled form beneath the bloody mess. Ben broke himself away, staring in confusion and guilt up at the man's son on the ridge. Standing, Ben walked over to his bags and grabbed his canteen, shaking it to determine its contents. Then he grabbed yet another of Dan's shirts to use for bandages, automatically assuming that the boy hadn't managed to acquire any before being abducted by the angry townspeople.

Returning to Dan's unconscious form, the outlaw knelt and tore off one of the sleeves, noting as he did the patching on the body of the shirt. "Cheap bastard," he muttered, remembering it to be the same shirt the man had worn to meet the 3:10 to Yuma. Dousing a good amount of water on the offending garment's now disjointed sleeve, Ben gingerly wiped some of the dried and caked blood from the rancher's chest, watching Dan's face for any indication of pain. The man only flinched once when he got to close to one of the oozing bullet holes, remaining absolutely still otherwise. The sun was now almost gone, allowing only the slightest sliver of its light to gift the dry plains before it bid them farewell for the night, almost teasing them with its lingering presence. The blood mostly cleaned from Dan's skin, Ben allowed himself to sit still a moment and simply stare at the man's battered form as his skin dried. Old scars were intermixed with the newly forming, each surely carrying a unique story. None of those tales, however, would ever match the story of how the one-legged rancher had single-handedly gotten the infamous Ben Wade on that train though, not a single one. Absently, he reached out to touch a single long scar stretching from Dan's right shoulder to his left hip. It was nearly faded now, standing out as a white line only because of the subtle play of the lingering light and gathering shadows. His finger traced it, stopping where the scar abruptly ended, its mark a harsh blot on the skin just above the man's pants. Wade tilted his head, his hand lingering in place.

Dan stirred, jolting Ben from his staring. He quickly removed his hand and leaned over to begin tearing the old shirt into long bandages, a process that he would be glad to stop repeating. Dan's emerald green eyes flickered open just as the sun sent out its final beam of light before vanishing completely.

"You're awake," Ben grumbled, continuing to tear the shirt.

"Yes," Dan replied, his eyes foggy with sleep. Ben fought the urge to meet those captivating green eyes and sink into their depths, admiring the varying shades of color and shadow mixing in the dark. The rancher's gaze locked onto the shirt in Ben's hands, alarm filling his face.

"Hey!" he called out in protest. Ben could see Will stand and turn to them in alarm before relaxing back to his watch post. Not that he could see much now. "That was a good shirt, Wade!"

"If you'd stop overexerting yourself, I wouldn't be ripping up all your shirts."

"Why not some of yours, Wade?"

"Ben. Because I am not the one bleeding. And I am not the one who owns shirts hardly fit to be rags for dog beds."

"They're all I have, Wade. And that was the last one. What the hell am I supposed the wear now?"

Wade smiled, his lips curling up not enough to reveal his lips but in a distinctive outlandish grin. "What you have on for now," the man said. Then his grin widened. "But once we hit the Pinkertons, I'm buying you some new shirts." Dan growled a string of what were sure to be curses at Wade while the man wrapped the first of the strips of cloth about him, sinking into sulky silence as he realized he had no real choice in what he did next.

Dan Evans was going to rob the Pinkertons.


	7. Chapter 7

Wade finished wrapping Dan's injured chest and sat back, reclining slightly against his pack and stretching out his legs. Dan sighed and pulled his own pack over, pulling out a blanket and balling it into a pillow before lying down and closing his eyes. He could feel Ben's eyes carefully studying his face with an unnerving intensity. The man sat absolutely still not even three feet away, and his gaze was fixated on Dan.

"Would you stop that?" Dan snapped, keeping his eyes closed.

"Stop what, Dan?" Wade asked calmly. He could hear the older man shift his booted feet.

"Stop staring at me, Wade. Ben." Dan almost kicked himself for the correction.

"And what makes you think I'm staring at you, Dan?"

"I can feel your eyes boring a hole into my head. Now stop. I want to sleep." Dan opened his eyes to find Wade's blue-green orbs gazing intently into his own eyes, each trying to see the other through a mask of shadow.

"Then sleep," Wade said quietly, not redirecting his gaze. Dan frowned and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the sliding of displaced rocks on the outcrop behind him. Wade's eyes left his and met Will's; Dan let out a sigh of relief and again closed his eyes.

"I'm tired," Will mumbled, shuffling into the camp and pulling a blanket of his own from the packs. He spread it next to his father's and lay down, promptly closing his eyes. "Will you take watch for awhile, Mr. Wade?"

"Wade," Ben corrected, deciding to settle for his last name with the boy. "I'll finish up the night, Will." The boy murmured something into the blanket that sounded like a thank you. Ben's lips turned upward in a small smile. At least the boy felt at ease around him, though he still had a long way to go with Dan. Not that he blamed the man, but it would have been nice if they could carry on a conversation.

Checking to be sure his Hand of God was secure in its holster along with a full load of ammunition on the belt, Wade grabbed Dan's rifle and trundled up the slippery slope and perched on a craggy rock at the top. Ignoring the stone's bite, he sat staring out into the dark plain, his eyes searching in vain for any sign of movement. Only the sliver's of moonlight filtering through the clouds aided his vision, then weakened it as they hid behind the fluffy grays in the sky.

"Better off just listening," he muttered to himself, unscrewing the top of his canteen to take a swig from its mouth. Barely any water was left, thanks to his using it on Dan's wounds. Ben sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the sounds of their surroundings. Somewhere a lone owl hooted, triumphant over a kill. The screech of desert mammals scurrying to and fro across the mix of sand and dead foliage was easy to distinguish when all other noises were silent. Even further out, a single coyote raised its head in song, the mournful tune reverberating through the air and tingling Wade's soul with its melancholy. Its sadness.

Below him, Wade could hear the soft breathing of William, accompanied by the louder and the harsh, pained breaths of his father. Ben readjusted his hat. They needed to move out and get supplies, and before that, money. But doing so now could put Dan further still from recovery. He sighed in annoyance at the inconvenience. They would have to work out some way around this, and the only decent and safe plan he could think of was to send William into the town for supplies. Dan, however, was sure to protest after what had happened last time. He paused in his thinking, not liking the new idea but sure that it was the only way they would be able to actually move forward with their next plans.

They could all go into town, but separately. William could take Dan into the city as his lame father, and Ben would simply walk in later. Of course, such a plan would require a bit of a clothing exchange in order to work, but he wasn't too worried. This town was far from Bisbee and not connected to it by any roads. Besides,most of Dan's clothing seemed large enough on the man to fit his own larger build. Satisfied that his plan had a slim possibility of resulting in their capture, Wade resumed his examination of the plain. Nothing stirred except the wildlife he had listened to earlier. No clouds of dust on the horizon to signal trouble, no fires to indicate other travelers, no wild calls of outlaws like themselves deciding they had found easy pickings. He relaxed, sliding from atop the rock to lean back against it instead, wishing for the bottle of whiskey he had tucked away in his bag. Considering for a moment the tranquility of the plain, Wade stood to make his way back down to their temporary camp, wincing at the noise of the shifting rock. Will lay half off his blanket already, a bit of the fabric tangled about his legs as he turned randomly in his sleep. Dan lay absolutely still, his breathing light but raspy, pained, making him wonder if the man was actually asleep. Wade shuffled through his pack until he found the half empty bottle, sloshing it around a bit to gauge how much was left since the poor light made it difficult to do so. He unplugged it and chugged a small amount of the liquid, shuddering in pleasure as it burned its way down his throat and into his stomach. Dan shifted.

"Give me some," he said quietly, pulling himself up by his elbows into a seated position.

"Whiskey's not for the injured, Dan," Wade replied, his grin evident even in his voice.

"The hell it isn't," Dan replied, scooting off his blanket and closer to where Ben sat leaning against two of their packs. "Move over."

"Demanding tonight, aren't we."

"Just give me the damn whiskey, Wade." When the man still held onto the bottle, Dan lurched forward in an attempt to grab it, gasping in pain at the sudden movement. Ben quickly capped the bottle and pushed Dan backward to lean on the packs.

"Stay still," he growled, forcing the younger man to stay in place with one of his hands pressed against his chest. He could feel the rapid inflation and deflation of the man's breathing with his palm as it quickened significantly from the contact.

"If you had just given me the alcohol," Dan hissed, grasping Ben's hand and attempting to move it. "I wouldn't be in pain." Ben allowed his hand to be moved once he realized that the rancher was only shifting it so it wasn't near one of his wounds.

"Well, I didn't," Wade said quietly, uncapping the bottle and taking a long swig of the amber liquid and causing it to slosh violently when he finally offered it to Dan. "How often do you drink, Dan?"

"Not often," the man replied, gulping down a good portion of the bottle and gasping in surprise as he handed it back to the outlaw.

"I would have warned you," Ben muttered, swigging another good amount. "It's good stuff." His hand remained open on Dan's chest. Dan reached for the bottle again but Ben shook his head and took another long draught from the bottle.

"Wade!" Dan hissed in surprise. "You're going to be drunk when you go back on watch."

"I'm not," Ben said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "and I'm not going back on watch. Too dark to see, and nothing is within hearing range." Dan appeared to frown from the shadows collecting on his face. Ben's chest rumbled in laughter, the sound translating into tiny vibrations travelling through his arm to shake Dan's form as well. The younger man shivered as the motion rippled through him, causing Ben to laugh harder.

"I thought you weren't going to be a mad drunk."

"I said I wasn't going on watch," Wade corrected. "And I am not drunk. I don't get drunk. I am merely a bit liberated by this good bottle of fine and quality whiskey. Courtesy of the law." Dan groaned in exasperation, the sound creating its own frequency of vibrations to travel through Ben's arm. The older man froze, his eyes immediately zeroing in on Dan's shadowed green eyes and causing the younger man to tense in alarm.

"Wade," Dan said hesitantly, wary of the added pressure Ben was using to push him back further into the packs.

"Aren't we friends yet, Dan?" Wade murmured, leaning close. "Just call me Ben."

"Ben," Dan whispered, his eyes large and flickering wildly between the man's obscured eyes. Ben pushed his black hat off, glad that Dan's was already lying somewhere behind them. Then he leaned closer still, noting the tension in Dan's body.

"Dan," he said quietly, his hot breath caressing Dan's face. Ben noted the alarm in Dan's eyes at his tone and smiled. He lurched forward, grasping a handful of the rancher's dirty chocolate hair and fisting it to bring the man's face closer to his own as he crushed his lips down. Dan was froze as solidly as a block of ice, shock holding him still as Ben's lips met his own with force; wanting, asking, demanding Dan offer up something in return. The older man shifted position, kneeling with one leg between Dan's own and brushing his thigh against Dan's crotch, causing him to groan in surprise as arch upward. Ben took advantage of the opening, aggressively thrusting his tongue into the younger man's mouth and probing to find the point where Dan would react. He found it quickly, letting out a pleased grunt as Dan matched his aggression and his intensity with a fire of his own. They wrestled for dominance, tongues slashing, lips crushing, and teeth nipping against the other's equally frenzied assault as their hands grabbed and pulled at the other. Ben held his position of dominance over the slighter man, growling in triumph as he pulled back and grasped both of Dan's hands in one of his own and pulled them far over his head. Dan bucked his hips in an attempt to dislodge his captor, blinking at Ben's surprised moan as he ground his hips against he outlaw's.

"Dan," Ben growled, his hand releasing Dan's to grasp the man's erection through his pants. Dan groaned loudly, arching into the firm grip that was a mix between pain and pleasure. He could feel Ben smiling as the man dropped his hand from his crotch claimed his lips again, bruising them with the force of it. He rolled his hips upward, mouth opening slightly as their erections slammed forcefully together with the force of it.

Then William shifted in his sleep, rolling to face them. Both men froze, staring at each other with a mix of surprise and alarm. Dan's eyes lit up in horror when he realized that his son was waking up.

"Get off of me, Wade!" he hissed angrily, pushing the outlaw to the side. Wade complied, rolling off and picking up the now nearly empty bottle of whiskey with a quiet laugh.

"Pa?" Will asked quietly. "Did I hear something just now?"

"No," Dan replied shortly, glancing angrily at Ben as he took a swig from the bottle. Ben could have sworn the man was blushing. "Wade's just getting a little wild." Will's eyes shot open in alarm as he glanced at Ben, relaxed as he was against the packs.

"But you're supposed to be watching—"

"No one's coming, kid, so go back to sleep." Will looked like he wanted to respond, but he shut his mouth and rolled back over, closing his eyes. Dan glared at Wade as the man offered him the last sip.

"No thanks," he hissed venomously. Dan fumed, muttering angrily to himself and glaring at Wade as he crawl-shuffled his way back to his blanket, carefully wrapping himself in it and desperately praying to fall sleep.

"Suit yourself, Dan," Wade said with a shrug, an smirk falling across his face, invisible though it was in the dark. "But remember, I don't get drunk. I do what I want to do." Wade paused for a second, quickly downing the last of the alcohol. Dan could feel the man's eyes on him again. "You seemed to like it well enough a minute ago, too." Dan knew he wasn't talking about the whiskey.


	8. Chapter 8

Dan woke up the next morning feeling more tired than he had fallen asleep. If he had fallen asleep. Much of the night had been spent lying still and pretending to be lost in slumber to avoid any more of Wade's talking. Or anything else.

"Morning, Pa," William said cheerfully, quickly passing him a canteen of water and a quarter of a loaf of bread. "We're already running a little low on supplies," he said apologetically. "Most of the stuff in my pack spoiled because my water leaked all over it." Dan nodded mutely, tearing off a chunk of the bread and chewing it quickly. He hadn't realized how hungry he was.

"Glad to see you up, Dan," Wade said casually, sliding down the last of the last couple feet of the rocky outcrop and somehow managing to make it look graceful. Dan didn't respond, electing instead to glare at the older man's nonchalant demeanor. Wade ignored his reaction completely. "We need more food," he continued, grabbing his saddle bags and attaching them to his already in place saddle. "And more bandages. And a few shirts for you, Dan. Some that actually fit." Ben nodded at Will's smile. Again, he ignored Dan's scowl completely. His son, however, noted the look and glanced worriedly between his father's angry expression and Wade's controlled one.

"So," William said nervously, eager to break the tense silence his father was creating, "where are we going?"

"Into a nearby town," Wade replied. "It's a little ways from the road we are going to need to get to in the next couple days." Will nodded slowly, then tilted his head in question.

"How are we going to get into town without anyone recognizing us?" he asked.

"Disguises."

"Oh." Wade raised his eyebrows at Will's confused reply. "How are we doing that?" the boy asked after a moment's silence.

"We're going to switch clothing, mostly me and your pa, but I think I'll give you my hat, Will."

"Really?"

"Yes, Will."

"Can I have it now?" Wade laughed at the boy's eagerness.

"No," Dan replied shortly. "He is not going to wear your hat and be mistaken for you by some idiot."

"Dan," Wade said slowly. "Anyone who could mistake your lanky boy for me would be more than an idiot." Will wasn't sure if he should be offended by this or not. He decided not.

"Still—"

"Dan," Wade said impatiently. "If you weren't injured we wouldn't need to go into town at all. Shut up." Dan looked at his for a moment, carefully eliminating emotion from his face, before looking down. "Good. Now Will, you're going to take your father into town and I'm going to meet you there. We'll both get rooms at an inn called The Desert Frog."

"The Desert Frog?" Will asked incredulously.

"Yes, Will."

"The name exists?"

"Sadly yes," Dan said quietly. When the others looked at him in question, Dan shook his head. "I stayed there when I was looking for place to live out here after Mark was born." Ben frowned but kept his thoughts to himself. "But I think you should go into town with Will, Ben."

"Why?" the older man asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at the intentional use of his first name.

"It will be more believable if I am the one who took longer to get there," Dan said wryly, shaking his gimp leg from where he sat. Ben winced, forced to acknowledge the intelligence in this altercation of his plan.

"Alright."

"Alright?" Will asked in surprise. "What if he gets hurt? What if something actually does happen to slow him down?"

"Nothing will happen, Will," Dan said reassuringly. "I'll be only a few miles out from the town. I'll come in around dusk." Will grumbled unhappily to the ground. Wade took the opportunity to pluck the boy's hat off and replace it with his own narrower-brimmed one, though it was far too large to actually stay properly positioned on the boy's head, not to mention much too formal. The boy looked up at him in surprise.

"I'll need your jacket, Dan. I'll give you mine." Dan laughed, the sound a quiet flutter quickly interrupted by a flinch of pain.

"It won't work, Wade, just look at your pants and shoes compared to mine. Go as yourself and hope they don't recognize you."

"And put us all in danger?" Wade asked wryly. "Not a chance."

Dan sighed. "I have another pair of pants, a little baggy on me, in the bag," he said, pointing to one of the ones Wade had strapped onto his horse. "They might fit you. And I'm not wearing you pants, or your jacket. Just pack those in the place of whatever else you take."

"Thank you, Dan," Wade said, inclining his head. Dan grunted. "And I believe that I will take my hat back, Will," he said, smiling apologetically as he pulled the hat from the boy's head to pack it as well. He returned Will's hat, grabbed the extra pants and moved a little ways away to change. Will looked nervously at his father.

"You need a disguise too, Pa." Dan sighed and stood to shrug out of his jacket. He held out his arms as if for inspection.

"Good enough?" he asked.

"No," Wade replied, returning with his own clothes in hand and looking slightly uncomfortable in Dan's. "Sadly, these fit me, Dan." The rancher glared. "I think," Wade continued, "that I will take this," he said, grabbing the jacket and pulling it on, shaking his head at its fit. "And this." Dan's hand jumped out to try and retrieve his battered hat.

"That's mine," he said slowly.

"And also very distinctive," Wade finished. "If there are wanted posters, no one will recognize your face without this." Dan frowned at Wade's reasoning.

"Fine."

"Good." Ben glanced down at himself, noting his too clean boots. With a look of regret, he bent to rub dirt on their toes, allowing the dust to hide some of the shine. Dan watched in amusement. "I think we're all good now," Wade said, glancing quickly at both Dan and Will.

"Your shirt and vest are too formal," Dan pointed out.

"I'll button your jacket."

"Let's go," Will said excitedly, obviously thinking about their upcoming deceitful plan. He grabbed his own saddle and bags, tied them to his horse, and swung up, glancing impatiently down at the two men.

"Alright," Dan said with a tolerant smile. He grabbed his last saddle bag and stuffed his blankets into it, noting his horse was already outfitted, probably thanks to Wade. A matter of moments later, the trio was riding out, keeping a careful eye out for trouble as they made their way back onto the flat plain.

Their ride was mostly uneventful, except for the scare caused by a startled coyote darting into the rode and sending Will and Dan's horses rearing with panic. Pain had ripped through Dan's chest at the sudden burst of movement, but his wounds hadn't broken open, much to Ben's relief; they had no more bandages. Will's horse had nearly thrown the boy from her back, but the runt had somehow managed to keep a firm hold on the wild creature's mane, much to Ben's surprise and Dan's immense relief.

The ride took them close to three hours, and the sun was nearing its overhead position by the time they could see the gathering of buildings that formed the town in the distance.

"I never asked," Dan said as they squinted at the small—and from this distance it looked small indeed—town a couple miles from them, "but what is the town's name?"

"You don't remember?"

"Should I?" Ben smiled wryly.

"Joba," Ben replied, noting the confused looks of the father and son with a wry grin. "I have no idea where they got the name from," he said in response to their unanswered question. Dan smiled at his tone. Ben gave him a small grin in response, glad that the rancher was finally loosening up a bit around him and hoping desperately that it would continue.

"Let's keep going," Will said impatiently, nudging his mount forward a few paces before pausing to look over his shoulder. "What's the hold up?"

"I think I'll camp out here for a while," Dan said slowly. "No one can see me from town here, and it'll give you two a good head start into Joba."

"I'm not leaving you here, Pa," Will argued, stopping his horse again.

"Yes, we are, William," Wade replied, glancing at Dan's relieved face. "He will come into town around dusk." Ben paused, waiting for Dan's nod of confirmation. "And if we don't see him by then, I will come out and look for him." Will looked between them both stubbornly before sighing in resignation.

"Alright," the boy said quietly.

"Good," Dan said in relief, dismounting in his somewhat clumsy fashion as he worked with his gimp leg. "I'll meet you both in town, nephew," he spoke pointedly to Will, "and brother." His green eyes were fixated on Ben's face, trying to convey some sort of encrypted message to the outlaw. Ben raised his brows in amusement.

"Will," Ben said. "Why don't you ride a bit ahead and see if there is anyone around from the town out here?" Will looked at his curiously but obeyed, riding off at a clipped trot.

"Now," Wade said quietly, urging his horse close to Dan so that it nearly touched him. He was trusting the animal not to step on either of Dan's feet, the good or the bad one. "Please tell me what you were trying to magically convey with your pretty little eyes." Dan frowned at the older man's choice of adjectives.

"I need you to protect him, Ben," Dan said quietly, his emerald eyes losing their aggression.

"You know I will," Ben replied, surprised that the man wouldn't know this already.

"And I need you to protect yourself," Dan whispered, looking down at his shoes.

"Falling in love with me, Dan?" Wade said lightly in an attempt to soften the serious atmosphere.

"No." Dan's reply came quickly, almost too quickly, as his eyes flashed up to the outlaw's face, their former fire returning. "I just need you both safe. Promise me."

"I would promise you, Dan, but there are always risks." The older man leaned down from the saddle, grasping the younger's chin and pulling his face forward. "Sometimes you just have to trust fate." Ben crushed his lips against Dan's, the movement concealed from Will's vision by his horse's great body should the boy choose to look back. He released Dan before the man would be forced to either return the kiss or break it off, deciding he didn't want to know what he would do.

"I'll see you in town, Dan." Without another word, the outlaw kicked his horse into a gallop to catch up to William, by now quite a ways off. Dan stood silently beside his horse, his mind swirling with conflicting emotions and mixed with undeniable fears, a mindset disturbingly similar to his times at the ranch.

"I hope, Wade," he whispered, "I hope."

A smile crossed Ben's face as they entered the town as he watched Will's expression turn to shocked amazement. Three wanted posters hung on the town's central bulletin; one of Dan, one of Ben, and one of the boy, tucked further down the board and almost escaping notice.

"Wade," Will whispered in awe and alarm, discreetly titling his head to the objects of his fascination.

"I know, boy," Wade replied with a smile, taking in the numbers under the faces. He let out a low whistle. "One thousand dollars on my head," he said under his breath. His eyes went to Dan's next. Only five hundred. Will had a measly two hundred posted for his capture. "Nothing to worry about. The serious bounty hunters don't go for anything under seven-fifty." Will looked at him doubtfully before glancing back at the disturbingly accurate drawing of his face. He was glad Wade hadn't taken his hat, for most of his features were shadowed by, making the resemblance to the picture harder to put together. His father, however, wore the same hat Wade was now wearing in the picture. A deep breath of relief filled his lungs at Ben's forethought to snatch his Pa's signature, battered cowboy hat.

"Liking my idea better now, aren't you boy?"

"Yes, Pa," Will said pointedly, hoping to remind the older man that they were trying to be related. Wade only smiled, glad that the kid wasn't actually his; any son of his would have turned out just as wicked as himself, if not more so. He was starting to like the good-boy-being-a-rebel attitude Will had picked up. They continued their ride into the little town, gladly noting the lack of attention they drew. Ben spotted the sign for the inn first.

"There," he said to Will, nodding off around the corner with his head. He didn't like the Dan's hat, for it fell to far into his line of sight. Ben was eager to leave for the open land again. Not a good sign seeing as they had just arrived and Dan hadn't even entered the city limits yet. The pair rode up to the hotel's front porch, dismounting and tying their mounts rein's to the posts provided for just that purpose. Ben led the way up the front steps and through the front door, Will following like an obedient son behind.

"We need a room," Wade called to the bartender as he sank onto one of the raised chairs, leaving the limp hat on. "Actually, make that two," Ben said, looking at Will. "Your uncle would be relieved to have his room ready when he got here." His eyes sparked as if they were sharing a joke with a friend. Will gave him a tentative smile.

"Right away, sir," the bartender and owner of the establishment said, pouring a shot of whiskey for Ben and looking at Will in question. When Will didn't catch the glance, Ben answered for him.

"What I'm having, only water it down a good bit." Will looked at his in surprise.

"Of course." The man ducked under the counter, clinking bottles together out of their sight as he searched. "Here you are, sir. Now, if you'll pardon me for a moment, I will be sure your rooms are in proper order."

"Thank you kindly, sir," Wade said with a smile, nodding his head in acknowledgement. The man froze for a moment, something like recognition floating across his features before he shook his head and scampered up the stairs.

"He knew you," Will hissed, looking anxiously after the man.

"No," Wade replied calmly, flipping the whiskey into his mouth and sighing in contentment as it burned its way down his throat. "Now relax and drink, boy. Your unease will only make things worse." Will frowned again but sipped from his glass, frowning slightly.

"This isn't anything like water," he muttered.

"And you're complaining because?" Ben asked with a raise of his brow. Will again looked at him in surprise before raising his glass in a toast and chugging the liquid down, coughing at even the watered down alcohol's sensations. Wade laughed.

"You ain't never had whiskey, boy?" Will shook his head furiously, glancing nervously at the stairs. "Most boy's your age would have snuck a little by now, but I guess Dan was right," Ben said with a sigh and a smile.

"My pa was right about what?" They both glanced at the stairs as they heard the distinctive creak of someone descending.

"Sirs? Your rooms are ready. The two at the back, if you please."

"Thank you," Wade said with a smile, standing and moving toward the man on the stairs.

"Your horses will be brought to the stable out back, if that is alright?"

"Thank you, but we'll get them ourselves and grab out packs." Ben nodded to Will and the pair went out the front door.

"What comes next?" Will asked as they descended the front stairs.

"We wait, boy," he replied. "We wait."


	9. Chapter 9

"This is our room?" Will asked, aghast.

"Your room. Yes."

"It's so, so—"

"Yes, I know, Will." Ben looked at the old curtains, parts of which appeared to have been eaten by moths, covering dusty and cracked windows. The room itself wasn't much better. The wallpaper may have once been nice, but now time and lack of care had peeled its edges down to form ugly curls of yellow where the adhesive had failed. The bed was another matter entirely. It looked like the rest of the room, if not worse with its bedspread and sheets that had been washed far too many times and now held many wear holes and stains no one really wanted to know the origins of, but the mattress was perfectly soft and fluffy, like sleeping on a cloud, especially after so many nights on the road.

"Just lie down, Will. Try to get some sleep."

"Where are you going?" the boy asked suspiciously, not moving to unpack.

"To put my stuff in the other room. Your father—uncle, sorry—will stay in there with me." Will stood straighter to argue.

"Why can't he stay in here with me? He is my pa."

"Because you are too sound of a sleeper to stop him if he tries to do anything stupid at night. And because no uncle sleeps in the same bed as his nephew. Brothers, on the other hand, may."

"That's a bullshit reason, Wade."

"Watch your tongue, little Evans," Wade snapped, but part of him had to agree. He just hoped the boy wasn't going to get wise and start looking closer when Ben was close to Dan. That would ruin a lot of his fun.

"I'm going to go put my stuff in the other room," Wade said evenly, regaining his composure which he was embarrassed to have lost. "And since you seem to want to know," he continued, catching Will's glare, "it is just as shitty as this one." Ben left the room quickly before he could do anything else stupid. He hoped that Will would do as he had said and just sleep for a while. It would make his trip down to the bar a lot easier.

Dan sat on the slight ridge outside of the town, his horse somewhere nearby as she grazed on whatever semblance of grass there was in this dry of a climate. There was nowhere for him to tie the reins in order to keep her close, and also no water supply nearby. He hoped the latter would force the giant beast to stay near him.

His leg was sore today, though for what reason he could not fathom. They hadn't done any real walking lately, and riding didn't usually bother him much. Deciding he had enough time, and enough clear land around him to see anyone approaching, he worked up his pant leg and unhitched the prosthetic limp, tossing it a short distance away in disgust. Red ringed the place where his actual leg met his fake, showing clear evidence of its irritation. He lay back, wishing for his hat and cursing Ben Wade as he lay with one arm under his head and the other slung just over his eyes. He closed them for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the sunlight playing on his exposed skin and soaking through his shirt to leave ripples of warmth trailing along his chest. A light breeze blew across the deserted land, sending a cloud of dust to cover him with a feather-light blanket. He ignored it, keeping his eyes closed as he simply listened to the noises around him. It was relaxing to just lie there, utterly carefree; he had not experienced the feeling in years. Slowly his vision of the red spots of the sun faded to dark as sleep swept him away under its sheltering cloak of black.

Dan woke suddenly, unsure of what sound he had heard to warn him from slumber. He sat up quickly, gazing around at the darkening landscape. The sun was sinking, its colors lying low on the horizon as they neared the point where they would vanish completely. He tried to stand as alarm filled him, falling when he tried to put his weight on a limb that was not there. He fell back to the grimy dust, frantically scanning the ground for his prosthetic. There, but a few feet away. A small shift of his weight allowed it to rest in his fingers. He hastily blew on the wood and metal limb, scattering the accumulated dirt from its harnesses before strapping it back in place and swaying upward.

His horse. Where was his horse? The animal couldn't have been stupid enough to wander far, or so he thought, as Dan scanned the land before him before turning to look behind. A faint dab of dark brown moved across the dusty plain; a very faint dab.

"Shit," he growled, glaring at the animal as it moved slowly, presumably grazing again. The horse wouldn't have wandered that far on its own though. Cautiously, Dan again looked about, noting as he did the sliding marks of a snake but a foot from where his horse had last stood. With another growl of frustration, Dan set off at a quick limp to his horse, wishing he had had the foresight to whistle-train his animal like Ben. Even his voice was not enough to summon his mount, for never had there been a need before to summon the animal from afar.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, slowing his pace after only a few hundred meters. His leg was already sore for unknown reasons, and now he was making it worse with a couple mile trek to retrieve his stubborn mount. The horse continued to munch away in the distance, completely unaware of her owner's struggle.

The sun sank lower, darkening the land. Dan wasn't looking forward to Ben's arrival.

"Another," Wade called, holding up his empty glass for the bartender and innkeeper. The man didn't protest; probably enjoying the money and not thinking ahead to the drunk he might be dealing with later. Not that Wade got drunk, but still, the man was not being smart. He watched the man fill his seventh glass of whiskey, not including the one upon their arrival, and immediately dumped the contents down his throat, slamming the glass to the countertop with surprising force. He felt the glass shudder in protest beneath his hand. Before he could demand another round, Will slid into the seat next to him. He waved the bartender off, noting the disappointed gleam to his eyes as he retreated with his bottle.

"Pa," Will said awkwardly, nervously eying the still lurking bartender. "Dan isn't here yet."

"I know," Wade said gruffly. He closed his eyes in frustration. The damn rancher just couldn't stay out of trouble.

"Don't you think you should go look for him? You know, just in case something happened?" When he got no response, William continued, his voice almost pleading, Like last time?"

"Alright," Wade said with a sigh of irritation, more for show than out of genuine feeling. "But you stay here, understand? In your room." He placed emphasis on the last part.

"Alright," Will said meekly, beaming up at him. "Thank you, Pa." Wade glared at him when the bartender left the room, receiving only a bigger smile before the boy vanished up the stairs. Wade sighed and lifted Dan's battered hat, running his hands through his hair.

"Stupid Dan," he growled. He touched his gun lightly, heading for the back door and to the stables.

Dan continued walking, though his pace was agonizingly slow now. His horse didn't appear to be getting any closer. Hell, it may have even been wandering further away. He stopped, shifting his weight to this good leg and wincing at the cramps in his bad. Then he continued, cursing his horse with a vocabulary which was sure to surprise Ben Wade himself.

Ben rode at a quick trot out of the town, picking up to a gallop once he had cleared the last of the houses by a good measure. The last thing he wanted was the whole town hearing about the little adventure and asking questions. God damn the stupid rancher.

But he was worried, more worried than he should have been about the man. He tried telling himself it was because the idiot was injured. That he tended to do stupid things that hurt himself more. He knew those little reasons were lies, though he was keenly focused right now on keeping the little voice that told him so out.

He reached the spot where they had left the younger man. Glancing around, Ben quickly determined that the man wasn't here. He scanned the area around, thankful that tonight the moon was brighter under a cloudless sky. Before him was the open plain, completely still. Except—there. A small dab of life moving through the arid land. He nudged his horse forward, squinting his eyes at the creature. Too big to be Dan. He cursed. Dan's horse. Again Ben stopped, watching the land with an even more critical eye, stopping at each dot which appeared too large to be simple foliage.

Then he saw him, about a third of the way to the wayward animal, Dan was limp-stepping across the ground, moving but not really making any progress. He let out a sigh of relief, quickly followed by a surge of anger and kicked his horse forward. The animal let out a little whinny of alarm, unaccustomed to physical commands, and galloped toward Dan's progressing figure.

"Dan!" he called once he was close enough that his voice wouldn't echo endlessly across the plain. "Dan!" The man turned around, swiveling painfully on his good leg. His shoulders tensed then relaxed in relief when he recognized who was riding toward him. He weakly raised his hand as Ben pulled up next to him. The two men stared at each other for a moment, neither speaking under the moonlight's magic. Wade broke the silence.

"What the hell are you doing?" Anger lit his voice, enlivening his features with nighttime shadow.

"Chasing my damn horse," Dan replied with a growl, narrowing his eyes in frustration and pointing in annoyance to the still distant animal. "What else?" Wade continued to scowl at the man for a moment more before breaking under the other's dour expression.

"Alright," Wade laughed softly. "Let's go get the stupid thing." Dan looked at him in surprise. Ben offered his arm, moving his foot from the stirrup to give Dan more leverage with his leg to pull himself up behind him on the horse.

"Thanks," Dan muttered as he swung into place, bracing his hands on the horse's haunches. Wade laughed again, the sound sending vibrations through his chest that Dan could almost see. He shivered.

"Better actually hold on, Dan," Wade said, obviously grinning though Dan couldn't see his face from where he sat. Slowly, Dan moved his hands to lightly wrap about Ben's waist. As soon as he had a light grip, Ben whistled to his horse, causing the animal to lung forward after its wandering fellow. Dan tightened his grasp in surprise, trying not to think too much as he blindly rode behind the older man.

Catching up to his horse was much easier on Ben's mount then it had been on foot, even with the animal burdened by two riders. They were soon but a few meters from the grazing horse, both men staring at it with something akin to loathing. Dan muttered his thanks and released his hands, moving to slide from the horse's back. Ben caught him, turning in the saddle to claim his lips in a hungry kiss. Dan froze, surprise keeping him on the animal's back as Wade caught a hand in his hair and pulled him closer. He whined quietly and, surprised by his own sound, opening his mouth and giving Ben the opportunity he wanted. The older man took it, taking advantage of the moment and Dan's surprise to coax the other to respond. Dan kissed him back, tentatively though, nothing like the aggression he had shown the other night. Ben pulled back, slightly, gazing in Dan's eyes as the other man slid off the horse and to the ground.

"I have a wife," Dan said quietly, speaking almost as much to himself as to Ben.

"She's dead."

"No," Dan whispered firmly.

"She's dead to you, Dan. She left." Dan remained silent. His brain was trying desperately to grasp an understanding of what was happening. Wade smiled.

"We should be getting back," he said quietly. "Will is sure to be worried." Dan nodded, grateful for the distraction.

"He will indeed," Dan muttered in response, glancing at the completely dark sky. "And he certainly has reason to be.


	10. Chapter 10

The pair took the ride back to the inn at a quick canter, eager to ease Will's fears and fall into the promised bed. Ben noted Dan's head bobbing in exhaustion and urged his horse faster, carefully to keep the gait steady enough to prevent to much jolting. He slowed their pace again outside of the town, keeping his horse's hooves from making too much noise in the night. Dan's mount followed suit immediately, bringing Dan back from dozing again.

"Come on, Dan," Ben said quietly, allowing his horse to fall back next to Dan's lighter brown mare in hopes that if the man fell he would catch him. "Just a little further."

"I know, Wade," Dan replied tiredly, his voice lacking the viciousness which usually accompanied such statements. They rode up to the inn, Ben grabbing Dan's reins from his hands and guiding man and beast around to the stable. They left their horses, grabbed Dan's packs, and shuffled through the back door. Ben had to guide Dan through the narrow hall in an effort to avoid him collapsing onto his gimp leg.

"Keep going, Dan," Ben urged quietly, one arm under Dan's and the other around his waist. "Stairs." Both men looked at the stairs before them with loathing.

"Shit," Dan muttered, his weight dropping his bad leg out from under him. Ben let out a gust of air in surprise, wincing as all of the younger man's weight was shifted onto him, even light as he was. He let the bags fall to the floor with a quiet thud.

"Hold on, Dan," he muttered, glancing warily at the door that led to the innkeeper's rooms. "William," he hissed up the stairs, trying to keep his voice low. "William!" The boy's door flew open as he burst onto the landing and down the stairs.

"Pa!" he cried, quickly covering his mouth at Ben's angry glowering. "Are you alright?" he whispered in concern. Dan nodded unconvincingly.

"He's fine, Will. Just tired. And stupid." Ben didn't like how Dan didn't even bother to rebuff him for the insult. "Help me get him upstairs. Now." Will nodded, propping his father's other arm across his skinny shoulders. Between the three of them, they managed to move forward and up the stairs with awkward hop steps. Will didn't question when Ben directed them all to his room. Carefully, Ben unwrapped Dan's arm from his shoulder and laid him on the bed, pulling back the covers and tucking the man under.

"Pa," Will whispered worriedly.

"Go, Will," Ben ordered quietly. "He will rest better without you here." The boy nodded, concern in his eyes as he shut the door on his way out.

"That was bullshit, Wade," Dan said quietly with his eyes still closed.

"You bet," Ben replied quietly, turning down the covers again to unlace and remove Dan's boot. He took off the prosthetic more carefully, his eyes narrowing when he saw the redness of the amputated limb. "Dan," he said quietly, reaching out to gently tough the irritated patch.

"Hmm?" Dan responded sleepily, the sound delayed and muted by exhaustion.

"Are you hurt?"

"No," he replied dreamily, his head going limp and his breathing evening out. Wade smiled, stepping away to lock the door, taking the time to remove the acquired jacket and hat and taking off his own dirtied boots. He moved to the side of the bed, his steps silent as a panther, and slid under the covers.

"Sleep well, Dan," he murmured, reaching out to pull the younger man close against his chest; both a shelter and a cage.

Ben woke first the next morning, quickly slipping from the bed and moving to pull on his boots and Dan's jacket and hat. He glanced at the man's still sleeping form.

"He's not going to just stay there," he muttered to himself, rifling through one of his bags and pulling out his handcuffs from his trip to the 3:10. He slipped one over Dan's wrist and the other about a column of the bed's headboard, grinning at the reversal of position. Dan stirred slightly at the metal's cold touch but quickly subsided again into sleep. Probably the latest the rancher had ever slept in his life. Ben slipped a good wad of money into his pocket borrowed jacket pocket from his other clothing and quietly went out the door.

"So?" Will jumped up from his post next to the door, startling Wade, though he would never admit it.

"So what?" He replied grumpily, nearly stomping toward the stairs.

"Is my—is Dan going to be alright?"

"Yes, he'll be fine. He's sleeping now, Will." The boy turned to go into the room as Ben started down the stairs. "But Will?"

"Yes?"

"Don't be alarmed at the handcuffs. They're for his own good."

"Handcuffs?" Will looked at him in alarm before spinning on his heel and dashing into the room, allowing the door to slam shut behind him. Angry grumbles came from the other patrons still sleeping. Wade grinned under the brim of his hat as he descended the stairs and walked out the front door.

Will burst into his father's room, ignoring the fact that he had woken nearly everyone else in the inn as he stared at his father on the bed.

"Holy shit!" he cried, launching himself onto the bed and crawling closer to the window side where his father lay asleep. Or had lain asleep.

"What is it, Will?" Dan muttered groggily. "And watch your language."

"Wade put you in handcuffs," Will said loudly, outrage clear in his voice. "The bastard!" Dan laughed, the sound awkward and choked as from one who does not often laugh.

"What a change of positon," Dan mumbled, a small smile on his face.

"You're not mad?" William stared down at his father's curled form in surprise. "Why, Pa?"

"Keep it down, Will," Dan hushed, waving his free hand. "No, I'm not mad. Not really. Not now. I just want to sleep." Dan rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.

"You're not mad," William said again, disbelief obvious.

"Not yet," Dan said with a small, sleepy grin. "Not yet, but I will be."

Wade wandered the streets, or street rather, for this town was smaller even than Bisbee, catching the eyes of the small town's inhabitants. He found the only store which sold clothing, and was sorely disappointed in the selection; it all looked exactly like what Dan wore everyday. No wonder the man dressed as he did. Resignedly, he bought two new shirts, one in a green to match Dan's vibrant eyes and another in brown, a more muted color, unintentionally designed to blend in. He didn't buy William anything new, figuring that the boy had more than enough of Dan's old things to get by for a while. His father, on the other hand, was literally down to the shirt on his back.

The trip out and back to the inn took him less than an hour, yet he was fairly sure that he would find Dan awake and ready to kill him for handcuffing him to the bed. He was surprised, therefore, when it was Will, not Dan, who greeted him at the door to the room he and Dan had shared the previous night with open rage.

"You bastard!" William's anger showed on his face in his narrowed eyes and taunt lips. "Who the hell gave you the right to handcuff my pa to the bed?"

"No one did," Wade replied calmly, smoothly sidestepping William's position in the door. "Now, I will accept further abuse from your father, if you don't mind." Both men stared silently at Dan's sleeping figure on the bed, Wade with his eyes wide in surprise and Will with a frown of unhappiness. "Or not," Ben muttered, a small grin crossing his lips as he moved to stuff the two new shirts in their brown paper wrapping into Dan's battered saddlebag. "Has he been asleep the entire time?" Wade asked, completely ignoring the death glares from the sleeping man's son.

"Not the whole time," Will replied coolly. "Most of it, but not all."

"Good."

"He knows you handcuffed him."

"And he doesn't seem to have minded all that much."

"He said he'd be angry latter." William smiled, cheerfully thinking of all the ways Dan could make Ben's life miserable. Wade started to smile, then froze, the paused metamorphosis sinister in appearance. "What?" Will looked at Ben in confusion. Dan stirred, silently turning over to face them, his expression surprisingly alert for one who has just woken from sleep.

"Too quiet," Wade murmured, slinking to the window and gazing out of it from a diagonal behind the curtains, careful to keep his shadow along the wall.

"Footsteps," Dan added, "on the stairs."

"Lock the door, boy," Wade growled to William, "quick." Will nodded and turned, hastily flipping the lock into place. Wade moved to Dan's side, reaching into his pocket for a thin strip of wire. Dan gazed at him in surprise and exasperation.

"You locked me up in handcuffs and didn't have the key?"

"Yes," Wade replied gruffly, twisting the wire into the keyhole and twisting it at uneven intervals. "And if memory serves me correctly, you didn't have keys either."

"I did originally," Dan retorted, glancing nervously between the door and Wade's concentrating face. The cuffs flipped open after a few seconds, though it was a few seconds too many. Solid bangs on the door rang out, making both Dan and Ben gaze at it in alarm as Will looked back at them in panic.

"They're going to get in!" The boy's voice cracked as he whispered.

"They certainly are," Ben replied grimly, stepping back from the bed to allow Dan to stand and gather his saddlebag. Ben reached over for his own, nodding to William to do the same. The boy complied quickly, hastily moving to stand nearer to them.

"I'm glad the innkeeper gave up rooms at the back," Dan murmured.

"Why?" Will asked, curiosity clear even beneath his fear. Dan glanced at Ben, who smiled devilishly at his son.

"Because we're going out the window."

"What?" Will looked from Wade's grinning face to the window and back. "No. No way."

"You're second," Ben said, moving to stand before the window. He ripped the ragged curtains from their holdings, swathing his hand in the old cloth before punching the already cracked glass, careful to displace every last piece from the frame. It broke with a shatter, hundreds of pieces falling to the ground below. Cries of alarm sounded from beyond the door.

"Be quick, now," Wade said, aiming his statement more at Dan than his son before he tossed his bag to the ground and leapt from the window, being careful to jump far enough out to avoid the glass shards on the ground. He landed with a graceful squat, masterfully absorbing the shock. "Now, Will!" he called, gesturing for the boy to follow his lead. Will balked, looking at his father in disbelief.

"Get your ass out that window, Will," Dan said harshly, grabbing the boy's pack and tossing it to Wade. Will looked at him once more before moving to stand in the window's sill.

"Holy shit," he muttered.

"It's the fucking second story, Will. Get your ass down here!" Wade roared from the ground. Thuds sounded against the door, causing Will and Dan to look back in alarm as it began to splinter. With a final breath, Will jumped, launching himself from the window and out over the glass. Dan threw his own pack out the window before his son had even hit the ground. The door was visibly shaking now; a shoulder broke through the door, followed by a stream of pained curses as splinters of the wood embedded themselves in skin. Dan prepared himself to jump, not at all looking forward to the impact.

"Jump, Dan!" Wade called from the ground, waving Will off to ready their horses. He could hear heavy footfalls as men rushed through the hotel rather than around it, probably hoping to pick them off without ever leaving shelter. Anger overtook him as he whipped out his Hand of God, fire spouting about the gun's muzzle as he fired shots into the building's walls. Someone cried out; whether in pain or in fear he couldn't tell.

"Dammit, Dan!" he yelled. "Jump!" The younger man pulled back into the room so only his hands were visible on the window frame before propelling himself out, his anticipation of pain clear on his face. Ben shoved his gun into its holster, lunging forward in an effort to beat Dan to his fall. The man hit ground on both his feet, rolling sideways awkwardly as his bad leg toppled beneath him. Dan grunted in pain.

"Come on, Dan," Wade murmured encouragingly, pulling the man to his feet and supporting him as the pair hobbled across the small courtyard area to the stables. Gunshots dusted the earth about their feet, but for the most part miraculously avoiding them. Will met them just in the shelter of the stables, his eyes large with concern upon seeing his father's pained expression.

"Pa?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Dan grunted in reply. "And pretty damn lucky, too," he added with a grin, holding out his prosthetic leg for them to examine. Ben grinned while Will looked on in horror.

"You got lucky, Dan," Ben said with a feral grin. "Again."

"Again?" Will asked, aghast. Ben ignored him and grabbed his horse's reins. Dan mimicked him, swinging clumsily up into the saddle when compared to Wade. Will stared at them for a moment before jogging to the back of the stable.

"We can go out here," he said, flipping a bolt and drawing back the giant door. It led to the back of the stables, behind and out of view of the inn.

"Let's go this way then," Ben said, guiding his horse back around the building and to a narrow alleyway.

"But that's back into town, Ben," Dan said quietly, his confusion plain.

"Don't worry, rancher, they won't catch us. Just have Will hang back a bit, and you ride a ways behind me." Without waiting for a response, he led the way into the alley, promptly followed by a resigned Dan and a frustrated Will. They both did exactly as he had said, hanging back the approximate distance and keeping a careful eye out for wary observers. Ben had cleared the town, completely ignored by all of the inhabitants, with Dan not far behind. Will was lagging, his eyes on the crowd surrounding the inn and the murmurs rushing through it.

"They found handcuffs. Do you think that means they're holding the boy against his will?"

"I heard Dan Evans was in there. Whatever happened to the man?"

"Alice would be so disappointed."

"I would think so!"

"The poor dear passed through here just a while ago in tears!" Will froze, pulling his horse to a stop and moving closer to the woman in the crowd who had spoken.

"Excuse me, ma'am," he said politely, making sure his hat was shading part of his face. "Did you say Alice Evans had passed through here recently?" The elderly lady looked at him warily.

"Maybe I did. Who wants to know?"

"Her nephew, ma'am," Will paused, his mind frantically scouring for cover. "My pa was unable to attend the wedding all those years ago, so she told him to stop by some time, when his work permitted, you see. But we finally made it out to see her in Bisbee only to find that she was gone."

"Ah you poor dear!" The old woman practically cooed as she patted his calf. "The poor girl passed through on her way west, her young son Mark in tow. They were headed a ways away to Sadie. That's about a five day ride from here."

"Really?" Will said with a beaming smile. "Thank you, ma'am! I think my uncle will be glad to hear the news."

"My pleasure, dear. Where is your uncle though?"

"Oh," Will said in surprise, glancing about. "I guess he didn't see me stop. I better go find him. Thanks again, ma'am!" The woman gave him a friendly smile, waving as she turned back with more gossip to her friends.

William spurred his horse to a gallop with a sudden kick to its side, his mind racing with possibilities. He caught up with Dan and Ben a short ways out from the town, both men riding at a much slower pace than his own.

"Pa!" he cried excitedly. "Pa!" Dan turned about at his son's call, reining in his horse. Wade did the same, pausing a few feet ahead of the other.

"What is it, Will?" Dan asked with a frown.

"I found her! I found Ma!" Dan blinked in surprise, his hands dropping the reins as he looked at his son in shock. Ben frowned, though the expression was not noted by either of father or son.

"Where?" Dan asked his question quietly, his voice nearly failing.

"West," Will replied happily, nearly bouncing up and down in his saddle. "About five days west in a town called Sadie."

"Sadie?" Wade asked in dismay, his expression clearly concerned.

"Alice," Dan whispered, bowing his head. A whirlpool of emotions swamped heart, not all of them happy at the thought of seeing his wife. He repeated her name again, quieter than before, almost as if testing it on his lips. "Alice."


	11. Chapter 11

"What are we waiting for?" Will asked impatiently as he looked back at the two somber faced men. "We should go. The sooner we get there the better."

"It's been almost two months, Will," Dan said gently. "She thinks we're both dead."

"Or that you're both criminals," Wade added quietly, quickly withdrawing himself once more from the conversation. This was strictly a family matter. One in which he should not get involved, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Actually," Will said in an almost singing voice, "they think that you two kidnapped me. Because of the handcuffs."

"Shit," Dan muttered.

"That could actually work out in your favor," Ben said slowly, his eyes moving slowly from Dan to Will. "If they think that we kidnapped Will, they will take the reward off his head."

"How does that help us?" Dan asked quietly, indicating himself and the older outlaw.

"It doesn't."

"Great, Ben," Dan said with a glare. "Great."

"It is," Wade insisted, "it means that William can go see Alice and try to explain everything to her." Dan and Will looked at Ben then at each other, slowly taking in the idea.

"It could work," Will said slowly, looking at Ben out of the corner of his eye. "But it would require us figuring out exactly where in Sadie she lives."

"That's the least of our worries," Ben muttered, starting his horse off over the land, heading vaguely in a western direction. The father and son didn't question his direction. They simply followed.

The trio started out in a lighthearted mood, Will happily humming to himself while Dan and Ben spoke quietly to each other, the conversation never anything of much importance. The first night fell and they risked a fire, figuring that they were far enough out from Joba and not anywhere near the next town. The hungry flames were fed by the meager tidbits dead brush and grasses they could find, which wasn't much. Will, however, held his hands out to the warmth of the fire, enjoying the sensation after so long without it. A large smile was plastered on his face as Ben returned from settling the horses down and Dan finished pulling out his bedroll.

"It feels good, Pa, doesn't it?" he asked cheerfully, not catching the slight shadow beginning to overtake his father's eyes.

"Yes, William. It does," Dan replied, laying back on his blankets and stretching his boots out to catch some of fire's warmth. Wade let out a contented sigh as he dropped onto Dan's blankets as well, completely ignoring the other man's personal space. Will looked at him suspiciously for a moment before returning his glare to the mesmerizing flame. Ben let a small smile grace his lips as he turned to pull his own bedroll over, lying it out right next to Dan's.

"It's chilly tonight," he remarked as he scooted over to his own bedroll, though staying nearly as close as he had been before.

"Yes," Dan replied, his eyes closed as he observed the fire's shivering dance against the backs of his eyelids.

"Good thing we could have a fire tonight," Will said rather loudly, his voice looming disturbingly over their small presence in the wilderness.

"A good thing indeed," Wade said quietly, closing one eye and watching as William lay back to sleep. Taking the opportunity, he rolled on his side and moved closer to Dan, ignoring the other's quiet hiss of protest as he pulled the man against his chest.

"Ben," Dan whispered, lifting his head to look at his son, who lay oblivious on the other side of the fire. "What the hell are you doing?" He craned his head around in an effort to pull the other man into his field of vision.

"I'm," Wade said, rocking his shoulder into Dan and forcing him to lie flat again, "going to sleep."

"Why are you—" Dan sighed in exasperation. "Never mind." Dan shut his eyes, not resisting the warmth Ben's body offered against the approaching chill.

Ben chuckled quietly, very much aware that Dan could hear and feel him laughing. "Good boy," he said quietly. "Good boy."

Dan woke first the next morning. He quickly wriggled from Ben's hold, glancing worriedly at his son's sleeping figure before shuffling off a ways to relieve his stressed bladder. Wade was sitting up and staring at the remains of their fire when he limped back.

"There goes our hot breakfast." Wade said with a false note of cheer.

"Indeed," Dan replied, not quite looking the other man in the eyes.

"Dan," Ben started, only to be interrupted as William yawned largely and sat up, his hair a tousled mop.

"Morning," he said groggily, slouching over his knees.

"Morning," Dan replied, quickly moving away from Wade.

"What's for breakfast?" Will asked, his eyes clearing slightly at the idea of food. Ben smiled at his reaction.

"Same as usual," Wade said. "Bread, jerky, and whatever the hell else we've got."

"Yum," Will said with a sarcasm that only a teenager can manage. Ben grunted his agreement as Dan tossed the small bag of their remaining food to him. Ben held the bag up, weighing it in his hand.

"I vote that we no longer allow Will to carry the rations."

"What?" Will exclaimed in protest, "why?"

"Well for one thing," Wade said, glaring at the boy, "the bag should be a hell of a lot heavier."

"So I got a little hungry," William muttered, rolling his eyes to look over the land and not at Ben's face. "Big deal."

"Big deal indeed, Will," Dan replied. "We need that food to last us out for a few days, not a few hours."

"Sorry," Will grumbled, not sounding at all apologetic as he caught the small portion that Ben tossed to him. He glared at Dan and Ben's larger meals.

"We didn't snack the whole ride yesterday," Ben growled in response to Will's looks.

"Will, we still have about four days to go. You can't just eat whenever you like, sad as that may be." Dan tried to speak logically and get through to his son.

"Right," the boy grunted in reply, shoveling the food down and staring at Dan's, barely restraining the drool from slipping through his lips. Ben tossed his head in disgust and stood, taking the two steps around the cold campfire to stand before William.

"Take mine," Ben said gruffly, "before you cheat your father out of his much needed meal."

"I'm better," Dan protested, kneeling to try and wrench Ben's food back from his son in exchange for his own. "Really." Will stuffed Wade's food into his mouth, hardly chewing before swallowing. "Will," Dan said softly.

"Dan, you need the food more than the rest of us." Ben raised an eyebrow. "Unless, of course, being hand cuffed to the bed agreed with you more than I thought." Will looked like he was about to grab Wade by the neck, but Dan beat him to it, lunging across the little ground between them and wrestling the older man to the ground. Wade let out a lungful of air in surprise as he impacted the hard earth, quickly regaining his breath as laughter flowed from his lips, his hat rolling away to join Dan's as it fell from the younger man's head. Will looked at the pair in concern before shuffling away down the slight incline to retrieve both hats before the wind carried them further away.

"Shit, Dan!" Wade growled as the man kicked his shin with his wood and metal limb. Anger and the need to dominate awoke in him at the injury, sending Dan quickly to the ground on his back and under Ben's heavier form. "I don't have to play these games," he hissed, a flicker of spit dusting Dan's face as he strove upward to release himself from Ben's powerful grasp. The man's hands only latched onto his own arms more firmly, his legs pushing Dan's harder together. Dan saw the flicker of Wade's eyes down the slight hill and following William's progress as the boy chased the blowing hats on the dry winds.

"Don't," Dan whispered, his voice hoarse from the pressure of Wade's heavier body on top of his and something else. "Please don't, Ben."

"Don't what, Dan?" Wade asked quietly, his voice deep and barely carrying to Dan's ear. Dan didn't respond, only closing his eyes in a tight squint and rolling his head back slightly. Wade hissed in surprise. Surely the man hadn't opened up his neck on purpose?

"Will's coming back," Dan said quietly.

No, no, he hadn't done it on purpose; the man had simply wanted to find his son.

"Right," Wade said with a grunt, squatting over Dan's form and skimming his hand over the sprawled man's thigh as he stood. William walked slowly over the slight incline, gazing between them with a critical eye.

"Thank you, Will," Wade said courteously, neatly plucking his black hat from the boy's hand. "And if you don't mind, boys, I believe I will change back into my clothes—" he nodded to Dan, "no matter how they stand out."

"Stupid outlaw," Dan muttered, standing awkwardly and brushing himself off. William looked between his father and Ben with a frown.

"Stupid outlaw," the boy echoed. If Wade hear he made no response, electing instead to shuffle through his saddlebag in search of his more customary clothing. He pulled it out and held up his black jacket as if it were something to worship, quickly slipping Dan's off and tossing it to the younger man, though it nearly fell short and was saved from the dust only by Will's quick hands. The older man completely ignored the concept of modesty, slipping off his boats and Dan's pants before quickly drawing his own on with a contented smile. He tossed these, too, in Dan's direction, and again Will's quick hands were forced to come to the rescue. Dan frowned in annoyance at the outlaw's rugged behavior, but was somewhat relieved by the man's return to his normal appearance. Ben Wade certainly deserved something better than a rancher's hand-me-down's.

"There you go boys," Ben said with a confident smile and his arms held out slightly to the sides. "Admire it all you want." He aimed his gaze at Dan, who turned toward Will to retrieve his hat and discarded clothing with murmured thanks. Will nodded in return and spun to retrieve his horse, which had wandered slightly over the hill to a greener patch of foliage. Ben's and Dan's horses remained side by side, as they seemed to do whenever near each other. It annoyed Dan to no end that his horse too should become subject to such proximity by the man's magnetic character. Or maybe his magnetic attraction to danger.

"Hey," Ben said quietly, his hand holding Dan's opposite hip as he tried to move to his horse.

"What, Wade?" Dan looked at the man impatiently from under his battered hat, green eyes wary and sharp. "Move."

"No."

"Move it, Wade." Wade smiled, drawing his hand across Dan's abdomen before cutting off the contact with a satisfied smirk at Dan's obvious surprise. The moment passed quickly, however, as Dan growled something akin to curses under his breath and limped past him. Ben chuckled quietly and mounted up, waiting a moment for Dan to shove the borrowed clothes back into their proper place before heading out, Will ranging ahead and Dan behind, though he knew that the younger man's animal wouldn't allow him to hang back for long.

"How much further to Sadie?" Will asked after they had been riding for a little over an hour.

""You certainly are impatient, Will," Ben said, "must get that from your father." Dan gave him a look.

"How much further?" Will asked again, ignoring the comment.

"Boy, we haven't even ridden for a full day yet. We've got at least another four, if we keep up our pace." Will nodded in response and moved his horse forward again.

"He is impatient," Wade remarked again, glancing sideways at Dan's profile as the boy rode out of hearing range. "Not that I blame him. If I had the chance to see my mother again, I think I'd jump at it too."

"I'm sorry," Dan said quietly, his voice soft with pity. Ben took it in silence, allowing the uncommon reaction to the story to feed his need.

"It's not a problem," he responded in kind after a moment. "The problem here if finding Alice." Dan looked at Wade as the older man spoke.

"What if she doesn't want to be found, Ben?"

"Women always want to be found by their children."

"Not yours."

Ben flinched. "True."

"I'm sorry. That was harsh."

"But true." Ben paused, thinking. "I think Alice will be glad to see her boy again. She took Mark with her, didn't she?"

"But she always had a special place in her heart for Mark, his being ill and all."

"And the firstborn will have a place in her heart forever as well, Dan. Relax. She'll see the boy."

"Will she take him?"

Wade pulled up short and Dan did the same, both silently looking at each other. Dan glanced to where William rode on, oblivious.

"What did you say, Dan?"

"Will she take him? Keep him safe with her?"

"Why?" Wade asked warily. Part of him hoped what he was thinking was true while another told him it was wicked to wish the man such bad fortune. The gleeful part won out.

"Because Will doesn't deserve this life."

"And you do."

"No. Yes. Maybe." Dan shrugged in confusion. "Will can have better though, Ben."

"Do you think he will so easily abandon you? The boy has your stubborn streak in him."

"Not stubborn," Dan muttered under his breath, kicking his horse forward again. Wade whistled to his own animal.

"Of course not."

"I need him to stay. To live a normal life. I can handle this. I can live with this."

Ben pulled up beside him, allowing their horses to fall into stride together. He laid his hand on Dan's thigh. "I know you can, Dan. And I know William will be fine with Alice." Dan closed his eyes, absorbing the little relief that Wade's words provided.

"Thank you, Ben."

"Of course, Dan."

The pair continued riding in silence, moving apart a ways to allow for greater speed. They had a long ride ahead of them.


	12. Chapter 12

Their trip spanned the predicted five days and no more, thankfully, for William was quickly burning his way through their food supply. The town came into view late on the fourth day, though they spent one more night far from civilization. Wade grumbled about Dan not wearing his new shirts while Will kept to himself, silently thinking.

"What are we going to say to her?" Will blurted out suddenly as they were all lying out their bedrolls for the night. Ben had managed to claim a spot right next to the rancher, claiming that it was the only rock-free land left. Dan gave up arguing with him.

"I don't know," Dan replied quietly, his uncertainty clear. "I don't know if she will want to speak to me at all, Will."

"Why wouldn't she? You're married."

"She thought I was dead, Will. And God knows I didn't keep her fully satisfied all these years." Ben looked over at the other man in pity, silently reaching over to grab hold of his hand in the darkness, safe from Will's view. Dan closed his eyes and gave him a grateful squeeze.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Will asked, completely oblivious to the implications. Ben decided to save Dan the pain of answering.

"It means, Will," he said slowly, trying to break the news down for the boy easy. "It means, Will, that there may have been other men in your mother's life. Besides your father." Ben could feel Dan wince and pulled him closer, ignoring personal space as he brought his blanket right next to Dan's, wrapping an arm about his shoulders. Will remained silent but for a shifting in his bedroll, soon followed by a stony silence.

"I'm horrible," Dan muttered. "I couldn't even make Alice happy."

"Dan," Wade said gruffly, shaking his shoulders slightly. "This is no time to go on a pity parade. Your son is right there." They both listened to Will's even breathing.

"Apparently he can sleep easier with that information than I can," Dan replied quietly, his voice near cracking.

"Shit, Dan," Wade muttered, leaning his head against the back of Dan's. "You don't need to worry about the past. Not anymore. It can't haunt you unless you let it."

"Right."

Ben moved his arm to run the back of his hand against Dan's cheek. "Dan," he said in surprise, feeling warm drops running down the younger man's face. Ben pulled Dan over onto his back, pinning him to the ground forcing the man to lay still and look at him. "Dan," he murmured hoarsely, roughly grabbing the younger man's hands and keeping them firmly at his sides. He nuzzled the side of Dan's neck with his nose, savoring the salty smell of the runaway tears before he licked them away. Dan lay still, tensed beneath him, as Wade completely straddled the younger man, sitting on his pelvis. Wade chased each tear with his tongue, hastily and roughly cleaning them away. "Stop crying, Dan," he whispered into the other man's ear, licking along its edges and enjoying the shiver it provoked in Dan.

"I'm not," Dan said, his very voice betraying him.

"Dan," Wade murmured, redirecting his attention to Dan's mouth and releasing his arms. Ben locked his lips onto Dan's, sucking and licking with an attentive fury. Dan moved his hands slowly, skimming them tenativly along Ben's stomach and shoulders to rest at the back of the other man's neck, pulling him down harder upon himself.

"Take it all away," Dan whispered harshly when Wade pulled back and licked away more tears. "Take it all away."

Ben grunted before returned his attention to Dan's lips, delving into the rancher's warm mouth with his tongue and trying to hold Dan's tongue from his own mouth. "You're more aggressive tonight, Dan," Wade murmured breathily, nipping at the younger man's lip as he pulled away again. "More willing." Dan ignored the comment, pulling Wade back down to claim his lips, his face, his neck, his body, his entrancing kisses. The memories of Alice were slowly being eclipsed, locked away beneath the attention Wade was giving him right now. Never in all his years with Alice had anything they had done had this much raw passion, raw need, raw hunger.

"Ben," Dan said softly, his voice quiet to keep from gaining the sleeping Will's attention.

"Fuck, Dan," Wade groaned, practically crushing Dan beneath him in an effort to gain more contact between them. "Why the hell are you so addictive?"

"I could ask the same," Dan replied huskily, his voice clearly revealing his hunger for more, "but I won't." He could feel Wade smiling when the man again claimed his lips again, wrestling with his shirt buttons at the same time.

Suddenly Wade froze.

"Get up," he said gruffly, rolling off Dan and into a crouched position. Dan blinked in shock, his breath coming in short bursts and surely warning anyone within a miles of their presence. How Ben was controlling his own breathing was a complete mystery.

"Should I wake Will?" Dan asked quietly, trying to ignore the feeling of complete awkwardness surely coloring his face a very attractive red. He felt about blindly for his shotgun.

"No."

"I can't find it," Dan said in exasperation. He could see Ben's shadow turn his way.

"Can't find what?" he asked impatiently.

"My—"

Bang!

"Shit!" Ben grunted and lunged at Dan, tackling him to the ground as the shot rang out over their heads. William snapped upright, his eyes wide and frozen.

"Hands up, outlaws!"

"Shit," Dan muttered, blindly feeling about. Ben was standing absolutely still a few feet from where he crouched.

"I said hands up! We will fire again!"

"Looks like we ran into some bad luck," Wade said quietly, surely smiling his wry grin to match the tone. "We ran right into the sheriff's night patrol."

"Last warning!"

"What do we do, Wade?" Dan asked quietly, remaining statue-still.

"Nothing," Wade replied easily, keeping his voice low enough that the rider wouldn't hear him. "This guy ain't the sheriff."

"I will fire!" They could hear the man cocking his gun and the distant clomping thunder of another horse.

"Plus," Wade added in a whisper. "He's blind as a bat. Just watch."

"I will shoot."

"Larkin!"

"That's the sheriff," Wade murmured quietly, staying still. Dan was again glad for the clouds and another moonless night.

"Larkin! What the hell are you shooting at? Get your blind ass over here!"

"But sheriff—"

"Now Larkin!"

"There we go," Wade said quietly, sinking back down onto his bedroll and contentedly closing his eyes.

"That was lucky," William said quietly.

"Damn lucky is right," Wade replied cheerfully, pulling Dan down next to him by the sleeve. "Now go back to sleep." They could hear William roll back onto his side and promptly begin to breathe his deep, sleeping gasps for air.

"Ben," Dan said quietly after a moment, either ignoring or accepting Wade's hand under his neck and around his shoulders as he lay close to the older man. "Why didn't you like the idea of coming to Sadie?" He could practically feel the older man deflate as he asked his question. He didn't, however, retract it.

"I didn't want to come to Sadie because they have a particularly harsh justice system."

Dan snorted at the response. "So you didn't want to come here because they have actual law? Afraid you might get caught, Ben?"

"No. I didn't want to come to Sadie because I remembered the last time I got caught here."

Dan and Ben remained silent for a moment. "I'm sorry," the rancher said after a moment. "I shouldn't have pried."

"It's fine, Dan. You have a right to know what you're walking into."

"That's encouraging."

"Isn't meant to be."

"I am sorry though. About dragging you here," Dan said quietly.

"Dragging me? Dragging me, Dan?" Wade laughed, the sound deep as it rattled his chest. "I led you here. Don't give me this bullshit about dragging me here against my will."

"Then why'd you do it? Why didn't you want to come here again?"

"You and your boy wanted to come," Ben replied quietly. "And as for why I didn't want to come here again, well, I didn't want you to have the same experience I did."

"Thank you, Ben," Dan said quietly, rolling onto his side and curling into Ben's side, much to the older man's surprise. He didn't move, afraid the rancher would shift away again. Once he was sure Dan was settled for sleep and sure not to move, Ben rolled onto his side, pulling Dan closer still to his chest and wrapping his arms about him in a protective cocoon.

He wouldn't let the man face the same horrors as he had all those years ago. He would stop at nothing to keep his one-legged rancher from that kind of madness.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: A HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read the story up to this point! The feedback absolutely makes my day!

* * *

Dan woke a few hours after he had fallen asleep, shifting restlessly as he thought again of Alice and Mark. He could feel Ben moving slightly behind him.

"Sorry," Dan muttered in embarrassment, trying to shift away. Ben grumbled something and held him tighter. "Ben," Dan whispered in exasperation.

"Need to piss?"

"No," Dan replied flatly.

"Then you're staying."

"Ben!"

"What?" Wade replied groggily, "What are you doing moving about? I'm comfortable here."

"But—"

"You're staying put, Dan," Ben replied, breathing deeply as he ended their argument. Dan growled in exasperation. "What are you thinking about, Dan?"

Dan paused for a moment before replying quietly. "I was thinking about Alice—"

"For Christ's sake—"

"my wife," Dan continued solidly, paving over Ben's words. "I really don't know how this is going to turn out, Ben."

"Neither do I, Dan. Neither does Will. Stop worrying and sleep."

"I can't!" Dan hissed. "How can I? She's my wife—"

"She no longer has that role in your life, Dan," Ben growled possessively. "She forwent any marital obligations when she left only a month after you did."

"Wade—"

"The Alice you knew is dead, Dan," Wade said firmly. He felt the younger man tense in his arms and try to squirm free. Ben tightened his hold and nuzzled Dan's ear. "Accept it and move on," he whispered. "She has a new life, and so do you."

"But Will—" Dan protested weakly, his voice quiet again as he stilled his movements.

"Will isn't labeled as an outlaw anymore."

The pair lay silent, Ben closing his eyes as he rested his head on Dan's mussed up locks and the rancher staring out into the dark, his eyes not really registering the objects before him as thoughts clouded his vision. They both fell back asleep.

"Pa," Will said quietly, pushing on Dan's shoulder with one finger. "Pa," he called again, his voice quiet, almost unsure. Dan groaned sleepily in response, pushing further into the warmth at his back. "Pa!"

"What?"

"Pa," Will whined, poking nervously. Dan opened his eyes, his vision blurry in the dawn light. The boy looked over his father's shoulder, his face clouded with unease. Dan frowned for a moment before realizing exactly why his son was so awkward.

"Oh," he muttered, squirming a little to try and escape the vice of Ben Wade's arms. "Ben!" he called quietly, elbowing the man softly in the ribs. One eye flickered open, moving from Dan's red face to William's as the boy looked very pointedly away from the two men.

"Good morning, William," Ben said cheerfully, moving his arms so Dan could escape. The man scrambled from the embrace and off to the bushes, promptly disappearing. William looked at Ben with a slight crease in his brow.

"What was that?" he asked hesitantly.

"What was what, Will?" Ben asked calmly, standing and stretching before balling both his and Dan's bedrolls—in a manner sure to further aggravate the man latter, not that it was on purpose—and stuffing them in their respective places in the saddle bags.

"You know what I—"

"I believe we will have breakfast on the road today," Wade said as he gazed at the rising sun. "To keep good time." William frowned and looked as if he would ask for further explanation. "Don't ask," he said quietly, not looking at the boy's confused face. Dan returned from the bush, readjusting his pants and looking not quite so red as when he had left. He scooped up his hat, pushing it far down on his head to cover part of his eyes with the brim's shadow. Ben smiled and informed Dan of the plan, mounting up and waiting for Dan and Will to join him. Both did so silently, Will as he carefully examined the last weeks with the outlaw and Dan as he finally moved from his embarrassment over the morning's awkward start to his concerns regarding his and Will's—not to mentions Ben's—reception at Alice's new home.

They reached the town a ways after noon, with William forgetting the morning completely as he grumbled in protest at the longer-than-guessed trip into town. Ben had decided to listen to and tolerate the boy's grumblings rather than focus on Dan's pensive mood, only occasionally prodding him rather forcefully to change the subject and ending up in a debate about whatever rights of his Will's thought the older man was violating. The distraction cost them.

They rode into town, Will sandwiched between and each only slowly emerging from their own respective worlds and belatedly remembering to pull their hats lower; not suspiciously low, just enough to create shadows.

"Why is it so quiet?" William whispered to no one in particular, his horse uneasily whickering and siddling closer to Dan's. Dan and Ben glanced at each other nervously. The atmosphere was all too familiar.

"I think we should leave," Dan whispered, pulling his horse up short. Ben and Will mimicked him.

"I'm afraid it's a bit too late for that, gentlemen." Ben winced at the familiarity of the voice and allowed his eyes to travel to the man standing not twenty yards distant. He frowned. Dan glanced uneasily between Ben and the man.

"Ben Wade," the man called confidently, a group of six uniformed men stepping from the buildings. Will glanced behind and spotted another three moving to surround them.

"Pa," he whispered anxiously.

"Will," Dan muttered, "play along as it goes, understand?"

"What?"

"Will you do it?" Dan looked at his son, a piercing look cracking his green eyes with intensity. Will looked at his father in confusion but nodded slowly.

"Ben Wade," the man said speculatively, taking his sweet time. Dan felt the hairs on his arms standing up in alarm. "What's it been, twenty years since you last rode through here?"

"I reckon," Ben replied stonily.

"My father got to deal with you last time," the man said with a smile. "Dealt you the justice you deserved for that little trick you pulled." Dan looked at Ben curiously, noting the man's tense shoulders. He was angry: angry to the point where he could lose control. "And now I get the fortune of dealing justice for your little kidnapping spree." Dan felt William go rigid beside him, nearly leaping to defend the outlaw. Dan clamped an arm onto his son's leg, squeezing tightly. The boy shut his mouth.

"Mr. Evans," the man called, "I believe that you and your boy should come over here where you'll be safe." Dan thought he saw a woman move fretfully behind one of the windows to his right. His mind screamed at him to look, singing Alice! Alice! but he denied it.

"I am here of my own free will," Dan replied, his voice miraculously not breaking. He grabbed a hold of William's horse's reins. "And I will leave of my own will as well." Dan nudged his horse to turn, only to find himself and Ben promptly tackled to the ground with the force of eight men pulling them down. Guns, powder, food, water, ammunition; everything was pulled off and tossed into a pile which was itself promptly collected and toted off, presumably, to the sheriff's office for safekeeping.

"Get off," Ben grumbled, tossing a little as the men pinned him on his belly and snapped the uncomfortable iron bands about his wrists behind his back. They did the same to Dan, though he didn't struggle and thus had less bruises to show for a pointless effort. Both were gruffly pulled upright and towed down the street, Dan literally skimming the road as the fast pace made his limp-step impossible. Ben glanced at him in concern but refrained from saying anything, well aware that any words would make the situation worse. Will sat on his horse and called after them, his voice breaking.

"Pa!"

Dan glanced back, sending the boy a small smile as he was herded up stairs and into the darker room that comprised the sheriff's office. Their guides shoved them through a door at the back which led to the single cell the town had. Both were shoved unceremoniously into the metal fronted cage, slamming into the wooden back wall with Dan landing atop the older man. He quickly scrambled off as the officers slammed the cell door shut with a laugh and waved the keys tauntingly before leaving the room.

"You okay, Dan?" Wade asked quietly, pulling his legs up into a ball and sliding his handcuffed hands under his butt. He gave a small sigh of relief as he got his arms to rest in front of him rather than in back.

"I'm fine," Dan replied quietly, his voice stronger than he felt. "Are you?"

"Few bruises," Ben replied lightly, "no broken bones."

"Good."

"Dan—"

"Why didn't you want to come here?" Dan asked suddenly, swinging around to face him. "You recognized the sheriff's voice. It terrified you. Why?"

"Why, why, why," Ben grumbled, leaning back against the wall and pulling his hat off. He tossed it to the corner of their cell. Dan copied the movement, moving to sit next to the older man and dropping his hat atop the other's.

"It's a long story," Ben said quietly, almost weakly. "Not one I want to tell."

Dan gestured at the cell. "We have a lot of time," he suggested quietly.

"Not as much as you'd think," Ben murmured, closing his eyes. "Not nearly as much as you think."


	14. Chapter 14

Dan was silent for a while, trying to figure out what Wade meant by his mysterious and altogether unsettling choice of words. He gave up.

"Will you please tell me why you didn't want to come here?"

"No."

"It's only noon—"

"That's a lot of time for me to get angry at you for asking questions."

"Fine."

Neither spoke, each staring resolutely at the metal gate holding them in. Dan started running his nails along the wood at his back. "How strong do you think they made this back wall?"

"Strong enough, Dan. They fixed it recently." Wade pointed to the remnants of splinters from reinforcing the wall. Shiny new nails showed their heads through the wall.

"Shit."

"Indeed."

"Shouldn't we be trying to escape, Ben?" Will asked cautiously, his gaze careful as he looked at the other from the corner of his eye.

"We could. But we'd only tire ourselves out. Better to wait till they take us out."

"In chains."

"Could be worse."

The pair lapsed into silence again. Neither knew exactly what to say and thus said nothing at all. The quiet stretched on unsettlingly, interrupted only by the sounds of resumed life in the rest of the town. At one point, Dan could have sworn that he heard William's voice coming closer to their cell, but his mind may as well have been playing tricks on him, for the boy never showed. For that he was thankful.

They had been sitting in the cell for well over three hours, putting the current time around mid-afternoon, when Dan stifled a yawn and laid his head back against the wall.

"Comfortable?" Ben asked in amusement. Leave it to the rancher to be tired in jail.

"No," Dan replied shortly. He yelped in surprise when Ben grabbed his legs and pulled him over in front of his chest.

"Lean back," he ordered, keeping Dan still between his legs as the man struggled to move away.

"Ben," he protested, glancing at the cell door.

"You need to sleep. I know that stay in the hotel did you good, but you still need to sleep. Stop struggling," he said in frustration, locking his arms about Dan's chest and pulling his back to recline against his own. "Good," Wade said, closing his eyes and only slightly loosening his hold.

"Ben—"

"Shut up." Ben pretended to sleep in order to stave off any more of Dan's protesting. The rancher eventually gave up trying to move away and relaxed, falling asleep almost instantly. Ben then opened his eyes and watched the doorway to the main of the sheriff's office, his ears equally as alert. No one moved in the building. All the noise and bustle remained on the streets as the inhabitants enjoyed their fresh gossip.

"Stupid," he muttered to himself, cursing his inattention to detail upon entering the town. But they had been waiting for them. So they had known that they were coming. Perhaps last night? Maybe the sheriff had actually seen them. That would probably explain why he thought Dan, too, was a prisoner, though how one man, no matter their physical condition, could keep watch over a teenager and a feisty rancher completely escaped him. A quiet laugh rippled from his lips, though he quickly squelched it as Dan moved in his sleep. He sat still, holding Dan to himself protectively as he remembered his last stay in Sadie's jail cell.

It had been shortly after his mother left him at the train station, giving him the only thing she was willing to give: her Bible. He had been sitting there for three days, diligently flipping pages as he read the pages, never looking up from his book until reaching the back cover. That was when he had realized she was gone. Hopelessness and confusion had frozen him to his seat, tying his heart to the last place he had ever seen his mother. Another half a day had passed as he just sat there, eyes embarrassingly vacant as tears slipped down his face.

"Boy," someone had called at some point on the fourth day. He hadn't looked up to meet the man's eyes. The man called to him again before moving closer and picking him up. He had still been small then. Weak. Alone. He hadn't struggled, instead going limp in the man's arms and clutching tightly the Bible as he accepted the fact that his mother was not coming back. The man had carried him off the platform, which was far larger and more decorated than the one at Contention, though if asked the location he wouldn't give the city's name. Part of his mind strove to push that away, thereby eliminating the false hope of one day finding his mother again.

The man had put him down as soon as they were off the platform, kneeling before him so that they were eye to eye, had Ben been looking at the man's eyes.

"Boy," he had said quietly. "You've been sitting here for well on four days. I think it's time you left." Ben had nodded numbly but stood still, not moving, as tears continued to slide down his cheeks. The man brought a hand up and wiped the tears away. "You don't have anywhere to go?" Ben shook his head a negative. The man had sighed. "Alright, you're coming with me as soon as my boy gets back from his Grandma's.

"He coming on the train?" little Ben had asked quietly, timidly.

"Yes."

"My momma went to go get us tickets. I think she only bought one."

"I'm sorry," the man said quietly. "Let's sit here, on this bench here, and wait for the train, okay?" Ben had nodded, obediently taking a seat next to the man but keeping a little distance between them.

They had waited for the man's son, who turned out to be only five years older then Ben himself, and rode back to the hotel the man had a room in. Ben refused the offer of the extra bed, instead sleeping wrapped in an extra blanket on the floor. The next morning they had set out on their ride to Sadie, taking four days a quick pace on well conditioned horses to make the trip. Ben had remained silent on the horse while the father and son had talked. It was on the fourth day when they neared the city that the man clipped his sheriff's badge on. Ben leaned around the man and looked at it in surprise, his eight-year-old eyes noting the shine of the bronze in the sun with a sort of glee. Sheriff Rodger Cane it had read in little letters neatly engraved onto that shiny surface. The man had glanced back at him, smiling a little, before turning and speaking again to his son. The three rode into the town, quickly being mobbed by a swarm of welcomes and hellos along with many questions regarding Ben's appearance. The man had answered the questions succinctly while his son nodded the appropriate hellos. The threesome made their way from the crowd to the sheriff's office, pulling to a stop and dismounting before clomping up the battered wooden stairs and into the old office. It looked much better now, Wade noted absently, momentarily interrupting his daydreams to glance again about the little cell. Dan remained asleep against his chest, head lolling slightly to the side. The noises outside of the building remained largely the same, though slightly louder in volume. It was closer to evening now, so it made sense that more people would be out on the streets as they arrived home from working outside the town or picked up last minute ingredients someone had forgotten. No doubt they were all being given a healthy portion of gossip related to the capture of the notorious Ben Wade and Dan Evans, especially if Alice lived somewhere nearby. Things would get interesting is she showed up.

Slowly the sounds of the town faded to the background and once again his thoughts were claimed by the past. He remembered his first night in the sheriff's home; the older son's angry glances at him as they were forced to share a room, the father's frustration as he drank his whiskey, his yells, his curses, his maniac tears in the shelter of his room. Most of all he remembered the dreams. In his sleep, he saw his mother coming back to the station platform only to find the bench empty. His mother would frantically scan the crowd, her mouth moving as she called his name in panic, his own screamed replies coming out silent as his mother cried and boarded the train. If only he had waited longer. If only he had waited longer…

Then he would wake up, the sheriff's son, Bobby, angrily shaking his shoulder as he told the frightened Ben to stop screaming. Apparently his cries were only silent when they mattered.

He lived in that house for a week before the son was due to another trip to the grandmothers. He had asked why and received only a glare from the drunken sheriff. He had wondered how such a man was the body of law in the town. Then he had realized that the man was always composed in the face of his people, somehow overcoming the alcohol to do the job no one else wanted or could do the same as him.

It had happened the day after the son left. The sheriff had gotten drunk, going further than usual in his madness, calling out for his wife and answering himself as he cried, throwing emptied bottles to the floor and ordering Ben to clean them up. He had. Then he got too close to the sheriff's feet, accidentally sending the man stumbling as he raged at the air.

"Boy!" he had hollered, pulling himself up from the floor with visible effort. He grabbed another bottle, took the remaining gulp and threw it to the floor, missing and instead hitting a terrified Ben square on the back, the glass grating itself into his skin. Ben had found out later that the scars that glass left would be permanent.

"Boy!" the man hollered again, watching as Ben shrank in upon himself in fear and pain. Then the man had passed out, his eyes rolling up into his head and the alcohol drawing him down to the floor. Ben remained huddled in a ball of pain amid the glass shards, wincing as he reached back to pull the largest from his skin. He had stayed, not because he wanted to, but because he had nowhere else to go. The sheriff had woken up hours later, taken one look at Ben's unconscious bloody form and, in disgust, whether of himself or the boy, had dragged him outside a good ways from the town. But something happened then that the sheriff wasn't anticipating.

Someone saw him.

In panic, the sheriff had done something stupid. Something he had looked at seconds later and nearly fainted from shock. He had shot the man, twice, through the head, killing the witness instantly. Then he had looked at Ben, put the gun next to him, and rushed back to the town, hurriedly rallying his officers because of gunshots he had heard.

Ben had woken back in this jail cell, though in much more pain, and much more confused. He had called for help, for anyone, but no one answered. Finally he resolved to try and pull more of the glass shards from his back, nearly passing out with the pain. He had fallen asleep again, only to be woken by a sharp kick to the ribs.

"Wake up, mongrel," an officer said gruffly.

"What?"

"Get your ass up, murderer." Without further patience, the man grabbed his arm, yanking Ben to his feet and ignoring his cry of pain.

"Who did I kill?" he wailed in confusion. "I never killed anyone!"

"You never killed?" the man had sneered, looming close to his face as he pulled the boy down the stairs. "Then how did Jeffrey Cane die, huh boy? You saying he pulled the gun on himself and stuck it in your hands?"

"Gun?"

"Stupid son-of-a-bitch."

"Don't insult my mother!" Ben had cried back defiantly. The man had only hit him across the face, then turned him to face the crowd. Ben blinked. A noose. A crowd. He was accused of murder. His eight year old mind had put together some of the pieces. Not all, but enough to know that he needed to get the hell out of there.

"But I didn't do anything wrong! Don't I get a trial?"

"Lawbreakers don't need no trials," the sheriff had said from beneath the noose, his eyes hard, steely, cold. They'd have to be, for one who was able to kill a brother and frame an innocent child.

Ben bit, he struggled, he lashed out, all to no avail. Then he reached back and grabbed a remaining shard of glass, swiping at the one place sure to hurt any man. That had worked. Very well. His guard had paled and fallen to the ground while the shocked crowd stared. Ben took the opportunity to run, slipping into the unmanned barn behind the hotel and grabbing the first horse he found. Bareback, he had galloped out into the street, turning the horse this way and that and making it virtually impossible to get in range without being in danger of dying by the horse's hooves. Then the other horses came out from the barn, registering that their stalls had been kicked open and flying through the streets to create more panic. It had worked well enough as a distraction, allowing him the needed time to get out of range before a reasonable search party had been formed. But his memories of the time in Sadie always seemed to find him when he least expected it.

He just hoped the son's way of carrying out the law wasn't nearly as harsh as his creative father's.


	15. Chapter 15

12/25/09: To all those who have reviewed or followed the story up to this point: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND LOVELY FEEDBACK. I hope you will not be disappointed with the long-overdue additions of the next few chapters. (Please continue to grant me the generosity of your reviews if you don't hate me too much for not updating in forever.)

Happy holidays!

* * *

Ben Wade sat silently, his mind pensive with only the droning muffled noises of the town's somewhat interrupted daily life playing soundtrack to his thoughts. Dan lay against him, breathing quietly for once. His wounds had, hopefully, finally gotten the chance to heal. Absently running his hands along Dan's chest, Ben sought out the bulk of the bandages, muttering under his breath when his fingertips can away with subtle tinges of crimson. Apparently Dan's wounds were determined to be as stubborn in their healing as his head in everything else.

"Dan, Dan, Dan," Wade whispered to himself, relaxing for now in the unsettling uncertainty that there was, for once, nothing he could do to escape this situation. Dan was injured. They were both handcuffed. Dan was injured. The cell wall had recently been repaired.

Dan was injured.

Escape was not a possibility, so Ben Wade set his mind to wait, though sitting and idling were not a part of his plan. His mind slowly sifted through ideas, through all the things he remembered about the town from their ride in and all the things he could recall from his first visit. It wasn't much, granted the astounding number of distractions in both situations, but it was sometimes the smallest details which allowed one man the advantage.

Unfortunately, there was seldom a clue as to which little detail would prove useful until the moment itself arrived.

Dan stirred in response to the ringing of stirrups in the sheriff's office, the rancher trying and failing to sit up. Ben held him tight, whispering into his ear clipped fragments of command.

"Pretend. Asleep. Now."

Dan made a single noise of protest before lying back again, features far too tight for slumber, at least to Ben's more accustomed eyes. He hoped their visitor wouldn't notice.

"Wade—" the man began, voice stuttering into silence as his eyes zeroed in on Dan's still form, the man's discomfort apparent in his awkward stance before the iron door. His mouth opened and closed a few times, like a fish gasping for air, before he dipped his head, clearing his throat and staring at some indiscernible point above the imprisoned pair's heads.

"Ben Wade," the man said, his former air of authority tainted with the underlying unease at the primary prisoner's posture. "You are formally charged with un-talliable counts of theft and murder."

"Un-talliable? Really?" Wade replied, signature smirk just barely lifting the corner of his lips and one brow. "Wasn't aware that was a word."

The man made a series of choked noises before regaining his composure. "You are also formally charged with the kidnapping of a minor. And possibly of Mr. Evans here, as well."

"Possibly?" Wade growled in return, enjoying the look of genuine fear which crept over the other man's face. He pulled Dan tighter against himself. "And what do you have to prove whether he's a victim or an accomplice?"

"I believe the folks down at Yuma would love to decide that, Ben." Wade's eyes flickered from the small fry before him into the shadows of the sheriff's office, following the new voice.

"Bobby," he said quietly, the name carefully devoid of inflection. Perhaps too much so.

"It's Sheriff Cane now, Ben Wade. Just like my ol' daddy. I've got the gold badge and everything."

"Looks a little rusty to me, Bobby," Wade said in return, his tone not quite matching the words. "You sure it ain't just bronze?"

"Har-har, Benny-boy." Wade tensed as the sheriff moved closer, crouching against the iron bars to gaze straight into his captive's eyes. "But it doesn't really matter what this—" he paused to flick his finger on the badge, allowing himself a small smile at the metallic ring, "—is made of. I can carry out the law of the land all the same, gold or brass."

"I said bronze, but since you're willing to admit it's—"

"Shuttup, Ben. I've got you this time. If only my pa were here to see you. Oh, he'd treasure the moment you danced on that center scaffold, at last paying for what you did to my uncle Jeffery and all those other innocents. You're going to dance, Benny-boy, and it's going to be your last time moment of fame."

Wade's response was flat, his face composed. "You do know I've been to Yuma before, right, Bobby? What is it, three times now?"

"Yes, Ben. I also know that every time you've gone to Yuma you've been alone. You've never had an accomplice before." He smirked, standing and brushing off his knees. Ben sat silent, his hold tightening slightly as he felt Dan's entire frame tense, fingers trying to convey a message he didn't have the words to say at the moment. "I think you're losing your touch, Benny-boy, and I think it's going to cost you this time." The sheriff nodded his head to his nervous lackey and both men departed, each with a little more swagger in their stride.

Dan was still until both men were out the door. Instantly, as soon as the sound of their spurs had faded from the sheriff's office, he had jolted upright and about to face Wade's impenetrable features, no doubt jarring his oozing injuries. Ben refrained from commenting.

"They're right, you know."

"Of course they're right, Dan," Wade replied patiently. "It's common knowledge that I've never been taken in with a partner-in-crime before. Even you, especially you with all the reading of them penny dreadfuls your boy does, should know that."

"Am I supposed to be comforted by that fact, Wade?"

"Well, Dan, I was hoping you'd at least feel special, having the opportunity to have such a first and all. I bet you'll make quite the character in the next one of them books. One-legged rancher and Ben Wade. I'd read that one."

"I'll buy it for you. If we get out."

"Is that a promise, Dan? Cause if it is, that means you have to stick with me long enough for that there book to come out."

"I reckon I ain't got nowhere else to go, Wade."

"Deal?"

Dan sighed, rolling his eyes as he pulled up his pant leg. "Fine," he grunted, tugging off the prosthetic with a jingle of his cuffs. "It's a deal."

They both stared at the red patch of skin where Dan's prosthetic had been attached, Wade's eyes tracking the rancher's fingers as he absently scratched the irritated surface.

"That doesn't look too good, Dan," Wade said quietly, blue-green orbs narrowing at the extent of the rash.

Dan was silent for a moment, his turning his detached limb this way and that, eyes silently flickering over the wood and metal. Abruptly, he smiled, an almost maniacal grin creasing his wind-worn face. "But this is good," he replied, jabbing his prosthetic toward the outlaw. One of the metal support bands running up the fake leg was snapped jaggedly in half, the lower end protruding awkwardly from the toe—broken neatly around a bullet hole in the wood—while the upper bent sideways upon itself.

"Isn't that where you got shot in the alleyway?"

"Seems to be an even luckier shot now, Wade," Dan replied, his face settling back into a more normal expression.

"What's the plan, Dan?" Wade paused for a moment, running his finger across the seemingly fragile metal and wondering how the rancher had managed to jump off buildings with such flimsy support. Just as Dan opened his mouth to explain, Wade cut in. "Is this why your leg is always hurting?"

Dan clamped his mouth shut in a frown. He spoke slowly. "It was amputated, so it hurts sometimes—"

"No. Is it because this is broken?" Dan paused, then nodded slowly, hazel eyes narrowed in barely masked confusion.

"You bought medicine, fed your cows, decided to go and take an outlaw in, got thrown off of horses, and jumped off buildings with a broken leg?"

"Broken fake leg," Dan corrected, hurriedly finishing with a tentative, "Yes?"

Wade sighed. "First thing we're doing, Dan, when we rob a train or an armored carriage. First thing we're doing is getting you a good prosthetic."

The rancher looked surprised for a moment, but his eyes lit up, obviously enjoying some private joke.

"What is it now, farm boy?"

Dan grinned, dirt and shadows making the expression seem wider than it really was. "Farm boy?" he shot back incredulously. "Really? Is that the best you can do ,Wade? Not going to dredge on dressing me nice and all?"

"I've given up trying to reform your wardrobe, however painful to the eyes. This, at least, you will use. Because you have to. Or you will have to once I get rid of that pitiful excuse for a limb."

"In some way, I'm sure that was meant to be touching, Wade."

"You're welcome," he replied with a slight twitch of his lips. Dan's amused grin was almost identical in its subtlety, though perhaps less frequent in its appearance. They both sat in silence for some moments after that, eyes trained once more on Dan's enflamed limb.

"Ben," Dan said quietly after a good period of silence. "Will you answer me one question seriously?"

The outlaw paused a moment before responding, blue-green eyes careful in their observation, prepared to shut out the outside world at a moment's notice. "What are you asking?"

"Why did you get on the train?"

"Why did you take me there?"

"Not the same questions, Wade."

"Ben."

"It's not the same question. Ben."

Wade stared for a moment longer at the younger man before him, taking in the vulnerability radiating off of his frame without the protective illusion of whole-ness created by his prosthetic, seeing how broken Dan must perceive himself after so many mishaps on his crumbling ranch. He stood, swaying awkwardly into the motion with his bound hands, before moving away to look out the iron bars, half-cursing himself as he did so for so blatantly drawing a line between them, for making Dan further bask in the pool of pity he was stirring for himself.

"I got on that train because I wanted to, Dan." Wade replied slowly, turning back while his mind struggling to navigate the delicate balance in the room and unable to reconcile that with his usual detached manner. "I like you, Dan, at least some parts. So I got on the train."

Dan was quiet, hazel eyes ticking back and forth across his cell-mate's face from his lower vantage point. "Why did you kill your crew?" he asked, voice almost whisper-soft.

"I'm violent. Impulsive. A notorious outlaw. I don't know, Dan. Don't make me go into this."

"Why?"

"That's two questions, Dan."

"Why, Wade?"

"Dammit, Dan, why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"I'm not stubborn."

"In this case, Dan, it's nothing but stubbornness."

"Then answer and be done with it, Wade," Dan snapped back.

Wade let out an exasperated sigh of frustration, nearly stomping back across the splintering wood panels to stand before Dan's sprawled form on the floor, his amputated leg a horrible parody of the strength he was trying to exude. "Why do you think, Dan?" he hissed, eyes dark, pupils large from the gloom and something else. Wade crouched down, still taller than the smaller sprawled figure, maintaining dominance with his firmer stance as he encroached upon the rancher's space. The other flinched away slightly, dropping the prosthetic with a hollow clap.

"I don't know," Dan replied, scooting the few inches remaining between him and the wall, eyes darting downward, seeking refuge in absent shadows. Wade followed, crushing into Dan's personal space.

"You have no idea?" he breathed, breath rushing across Dan's unshaven face as the outlaw crouched over him, hands splayed tight above Dan's shoulders, binding him in place with the metal of the chain and blocking any foolish attempts at escape. "Give me one good guess, Dan, one good one."

"Just tell me, Wade."

"Dammit, Dan," he growled angrily. Dan looked up at him in surprise, hazel eyes now an emerald green in the dimness of the cell. "It's Ben."

Taking advantage of his upturned face, Wade leaned down, biting the rancher's lips aggressively, pressing him tighter against the wall, one hand cupping the back of his head forcefully to keep him still and ignoring the pressure of metal cuffs against his wrists. Dan emitted a whine of frustration, tugging forcefully away for a second or two before succumbing and giving into Wade's rough motions.

"Good, Dan," Wade growled against his ear, nipping harder than was necessary and drawing a yelp of pain. He huffed in amusement and smothered the noise with his other hand, nosing further down Dan's neck, moving his own leg between Dan's and nudging the prosthetic out of the way across the cell. The rancher's neck rolled to the side of its own accord. "Good, Dan, good," Wade murmured again, hands clumsily coordinating to push the battered jacket aside and grant further access for his teeth. He pushed his knee firmly against Dan's crotch, smiling at the instinctive roll of hips in return. A puff of hot air pulsed against his palm as the younger man moaned.

Spurs sounded in the sheriff's office, interrupting the moment. Dan's eyes flashed open, pupils shrunken in alarm, hands roughly shoving against the bulkier form atop him.

"Ben," he pleaded, "please, get off." His eyes dashed between doorway and outlaw until Wade grinned and rolled aside, a self-satisfied smirk plastering itself upon his features as he reached across for the discarded artificial limb.

"Do you have the answers you wanted?" Wade's voice came out a hoarse whisper; Dan's answering silence was the only thing quieter. The sound of the spurs faded away. "We at least friends now, ain't we, Dan? Answer me."

Dan turned to face him, brows furrowed in thought. Wade grabbed the rancher's disheveled jacket with one hand and yanked him closer with a chink of chain, brining their faces close enough to mingle breath. Hazel eyes stared into blue-greens, each seeking something in the shadowed depths of the other's. Neither spoke.

"I reckon we're at least friends now, Wade," Dan said quietly, belatedly amending his statement with a soft-spoken, "Ben."

"So," Wade said quietly after a few seconds more of silent observation, unsure if he'd seen what he desired to in the rancher's exhausted eyes. His voice was gravelly and nearly inaudible over the busy soundtrack of life still playing outside of their cell. "What's the plan, Dan?"


End file.
